By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director
BIRMINGHAM – Back at the beginning of the 2024 volleyball season, Spring Garden senior outside hitter Ace Austin suffered what could’ve been a disastrous injury for the Lady Panthers’ hopes of repeating as Class 1A state champions.
The Alabama basketball commitment suffered a high right ankle sprain in a tournament at Good Hope. She went up for a block and landed awkwardly on a Priceville player’s foot. Ace was fortunate her ankle wasn’t broken, but she was still on crutches and in a boot for a few weeks before returning to action.
Instead of waiting until their top player returned to action, the Lady Panthers used her absence as a time to get better without her.
When she returned around the midway point, Spring Garden was a much better team for it.
On Thursday afternoon, it took the Lady Panthers’ digging deep for that newfound strength they didn’t know they had early in the season to win their second straight Class 1A state championship. They swept University Charter in three sets at Bill Harris Arena in Birmingham for the second straight year. The scores were 25-19, 25-23 and 25-22.
Ace was named the Class 1A state tournament Most Valuable Player after posting 31 kills and 14 digs.
But as the old saying goes, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
In Thursday’s championship match, Maggie Jarrett delivered 11 kills and 10 digs. Avery Steward managed 45 assists and six digs. Olivia Law posted five kills and 17 digs. Kristen Lewis finished with 13 digs.
“Ace jumps well. Kristen is gritty on the back row. Maggie Jarrett can multi-shift. Avery’s got great hands. Montana (Highfield) can block. Chloe Fennell can block. Olivia has turned into a really good volleyball player for us. They’re all different, but they’ve got one common characteristic. They’re all competitors, and that’s what’s gotten us here,” Spring Garden coach Ricky Austin said.
“I’m so proud of this team, so proud of overcoming an injury at the beginning of the year. I think it was important what they did when Ace was out, the number of weeks she was out. That helped this team grow and get better without Ace. I think you saw that today.
“Yes, Ace is good and Ace has always been Ace, but boy, everybody else made so many great plays. I go back to that moment right now, the times we played without Ace this year, being important for what happened today.”
Ace admitted she was “really down” when she was injured, but she was relieved when doctors told her it was only a sprain. She spent the next few weeks rehabbing to get it stronger for the stretch run of the season.
On Thursday, all of the Lady Panthers’ efforts paid off.
“It could’ve been worse,” Ace said. “But we said right when it happened, this was going to be the best thing that’s ever happened for our volleyball team.
“Montana, Chloe, Maggie, Olivia, our hitters, they all carried a role through all those games, win or lose. It’s made them tremendously better. I’m really proud they didn’t give up. It’s been tough for us, but we’ve been through the battles, and I think we’re prepared for anything. I’m proud of how they all stepped up their game.”
The Lady Panthers not only stepped up their game, they elevated it to the highest of levels. They went a perfect 9-0 in the postseason, sweeping all of their playoff opponents along their path to their second straight state title.
And it all came together when the Lady Panthers turned a negative into a positive.
“It was an opportunity for all of us to examine ourselves without Ace,” Coach Austin said. “They’ve really worked had and stepped it up. I think our overall defense got better because of it. I think it made all of us start reading hitters, reading blocks better, and doing a better job of playing team defense.
“To me, it’s something that was so close to being a disaster for our season to something that turned into a positive. I’m proud they handled it the way they did. I’m proud they bent but didn’t break.”