HUNTSVILLE – The Spring Garden Lady Panthers finished third in the Class 2A North Super Regional in Huntsville on Wednesday. They clinched a berth in next Tuesday’s state tournament with a 22-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-19 win over Pisgah to propel them to the regional tournament semifinals.
“The most important game was our first one. That’s the one that punches your ticket (to the state tournament). If you don’t win that one, then your season’s over,” Spring Garden coach Ricky Austin said. “Coming in playing a Pisgah team that had dropped down from 3A, and us moving up to 2A, I’m sure there were a little nerves. We dropped the first game to them, but I was glad we were able to win three in a row after that. I thought that kind of set the tone that we could persevere through the day. We didn’t play great. We played good in moments, but I thought that first match set the tone.”
Addison then swept the Lady Panthers 22-25, 17-25, 17-25 to send them to the third-place match against Hatton, where they ended the day on a high note by winning in five sets, 25-14, 25-23, 19-25, 19-25 and 15-11.
Haleigh Molock and Suzie Carter posted 27 and 22 kills respectively. Autumn Sides added 19 kills. Neely Welsh collected 52 assists and 10 kills. Alle Jennings had 16 kills and Abbey Steward finished with 43 assists.
Spring Garden advances to the state tournament at the Birmingham CrossPlex where it will face Ariton on Tuesday at 10 a.m.
While Spring Garden advanced to next week’s state tournament, both Cedar Bluff and Sand Rock fell in heartbreakers to end their seasons.
The Class 1A Lady Tigers took the first two sets against Covenant Christian, but then dropped the next three. The scores were 25-23, 25-17, 21-25, 24-26 and 6-15.
Russell Givens led the Lady Tigers (16-15) with 19 kills, four digs and three aces. Jordyn Walker posted 31 digs and five kills. Maggie Clowdis added 40 assists, two kills, two digs and an ace. Emma Haney had five aces, four kills, four digs. Graceland Benton came away with seven kills and two aces. Erin McFry contributed three kills and an ace. Shaya Satcher finished with an ace.
Class 2A Sand Rock won its first set against Altamont 28-26, but then lost the next three 21-25, 23-25 and 19-25.
Hannah Davis delivered 16 digs and 12 kills for the Lady Wildcats (29-11). Jacey Stephens collected 17 assists, 12 digs and four kills. Maci Brown added six kills and five blocks. Caley Garrett contributed 36 digs. Katelyn St. Clair posted nine kills. Lanie Henderson had seven kills. Cheyanne Fuqua came away with six kills. McKenna Ballenger finished with 20 assists.