BIRMINGHAM – Spring Garden’s first volleyball season in Class 2A ended the way it did last year in Class 1A – in the Final Four. The Addison Lady Bulldogs swept the Lady Panthers 25-17, 25-17, 25-19 Tuesday evening at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
“That is our story this year. We move up in classification and make it back to the semifinals down here. Unfortunately, it’s the same result as the 1A semifinal,” Spring Garden head coach Ricky Austin said. “That doesn’t put a blemish on how proud I am of our girls and what they were able to fight through all year.
“We got beat by a good team. Addison is a good program with a lot of rich, rich volleyball tradition they’ve built over there. I think they win a lot of games on tradition. The score might not show it, but I thought we battled about as well as we could against a team of that level.”
Spring Garden (35-10) was swept by the Lady Bulldogs (38-16) in last week’s North Regional semifinals in Huntsville, and much like that meeting, they had a hard time jumping out ahead. Addison took control in the first set by building an 8-4 advantage early, forcing Austin to take a timeout. The Lady Bulldogs proceeded to outscore the Lady Panthers 17-13 the rest of the way.
In the second set, Addison jumped out to a 6-1 advantage in the second set, but Spring Garden managed to tie things up at 7. Following a timeout, the Lady Bulldogs then scored six straight points to take a 13-7 lead. Spring Garden managed to cut its deficit to 13-11, but could never forge ahead.
The Lady Panthers were the aggressors in the third set, scoring the first four points. They held a 12-7 advantage midway through the set before Addison rallied for the sweep.
Senior outside hitter Haleigh Molock led the Lady Panthers with nine kills and an ace. Junior middle Suzie Carter contributed six kills and a pair of blocks. Senior middle hitter Autumn Sides delivered five kills. Senior middle hitter Lexie Adkison added three kills and three blocks. Junior setter Abbey Steward finished with 23 assists and an ace.
Junior outside hitter Addisyn Smothers led the Lady Bulldogs with 21 kills, three digs and an ace. Senior outside hitter Sunny Snoddy posted 14 kills and a dig. Sophomore setter Gracie Manley finished with a pair of aces, a dig and a kill.
Junior outside hitter Addisyn Smothers led the Lady Bulldogs with 21 kills, three digs and an ace. Senior outside hitter Sunny Snoddy posted 14 kills and a dig. Sophomore setter Gracie Manley finished with a pair of aces, a dig and a kill.
