Calhoun fights back for area title; Sonoraville secures No. 3 seed
Calhoun coach Randy Rice has said all season that his team has been learning how to win. On Saturday, they showed just how much they have learned.
The Lady Jackets battled out of the loser’s bracket after dropping an early match on Saturday to win three straight, including defeating Bremen twice in the finals, to earn the Area 1-AAA title. Calhoun (30-14) displayed how much they have improved by hoisting the trophy on their home court after missing the state tournament in each of the last two seasons.
Rice said his team truly showed how far they have come even after a setback in their first match of the day against Bremen as they never gave up and continued to push for that goal of being crowned the top team in the area.
“If you would’ve asked me about 10 a.m. this morning (after losing to Bremen) if we had learned how to win, I would’ve said we were the same team as we have been. But all I could say to the girls after how they fought and won an area title under the circumstances they were in was just ‘wow,’” said Rice. “We finally put it all together. No disrespect to any of the top four teams in our area, but we were all pretty evenly-matched. There wasn’t a lot of difference in us, and we all beat each other during the season. But our girls finally found a way to win. Even when we were down, we came back. All 11 girls contributed. We didn’t play perfect by any stretch, but we played about as good as we could have today. I just kept telling the girls to get up there and hit the ball the way we do and keep believing, and they did that.
“We anticipated going through the top bracket and waiting on everyone else to battle it out to play us in the finals. Once we lost to start today, I didn’t know how we would respond and if we could get all the way back the way we did. But I’m so proud of my girls for their determination and focus to get it done. Sonoraville had an impressive run of area titles in a row, but our goal this year was to win the area and we did that. We are the champions now.”
The Lady Jackets faced off against Bremen in the winner’s bracket finals to open the day on Saturday and fell in two sets (28-26, 25-21) in a tightly-contested match to drop into the loser’s bracket. From there, they had their backs against the wall, but they responded by defeating rival Sonoraville in an elimination match in two sets (25-12, 25-19) to set up a rematch against Bremen. They had to defeat the Lady Devils twice in the finals to claim the area title, and they did that by earning a threeset victory (25-21, 23-25, 25-22) and closed out the dramatic run with a twoset win (25-19, 25-17).
Calhoun got some big performances on Saturday with 11 players reaching the stat column. Anna George, who was named the Area 1-AAA Co-Player of the Year on Thursday, had a huge day with 28 kills, nine blocks and three digs. Sophie Stewart and Emma Kate Smith were on the attack as well as each finished with 18 kills on the day. Stewart added 11 aces and six digs, and Smith had 25 digs, six aces and three blocks.
Also contributing for Calhoun was Erin Kelly with nine kills, seven digs, four blocks and two aces, Ashlyn Brzozoski with 45 digs, eight aces and five kills, Erin Davis with 15 digs, 11 aces and one kill, Railey Greeson with 18 digs and five aces, Jenna Santori with 22 digs, Ashton Ensley with 15 digs, Anna Hoblitzell with six kills and five digs and Callie Ledford with four aces and one dig.
Davis, the team’s lone senior, said winning an area title in her final year of high school volleyball is very special and the whole team deserves credit for it.
“This means the world to me,” said Davis. “I think the reason we were so much better this year and we won the area title is we had so many younger players step up. We came together and played well as a team. We fought really hard today. Even after we lost to (Bremen) earlier today, Coach (Rice) told us not to give up and keep fighting. We just wanted it more at the end and we got it.”
Sonoraville ( 1825), who had won five straight area titles coming into this season, started Saturday with a two-set win (25-12, 25-19) over Haralson County to assure themselves of nothing lower than the No. 3 seed for the state tournament before falling to Calhoun in the next round as they saw their area tournament run come to an end. Vaughn said his team played well in their opening match of the day but couldn’t keep the momentum going against a strong Lady Jackets’ team.
“We came out strong today and did what we needed to do against Haralson County,” said Vaughn. “We served it really well, and our serve receive was strong in that match. Then we served it well against Calhoun, and our serve receive wasn’t very good. But I’ve got to give it to Calhoun. They hit it strong and kept putting it in play. They were really hitting on top of the ball. We’re not a very big team, and they have some good size. That’s really our weakness and their strength so we don’t match up very well.
“But I’m proud of our girls. They worked hard this season and today. I think we have a pretty good draw in State and can make a good run. I love this team, and I think we have a good shot. We’ve just got to play to our potential.”
Kinsey Wilson led the Lady Phoenix on Saturday with 18 digs and three assists, and Skylar Huskins added 11 kills, five digs and four aces. Alea Johnson had a good day with 24 assists and three kills, and Hannah Wehunt contributed 11 digs and was 13-of-13 serving. Also contributing was: Bree Steely with eight aces and seven kills, Anissa Hales with eight digs, Alexis Lincoln with seven kills, Abby Chambers with three kills and Raleigh Hooper with two blocks.
Calhoun will be at home in the first round of the Class AAA State Tournament on Wednesday as they host Groves at 7 p.m.; Sonoraville is on the road at Savannah High at 4 p.m.
“I think we can go far into the state tournament,” said Davis of the Lady Jackets’ chances moving forward. “If we keep our head up and don’t get down, I think we can keep winning. We’re going to go after it as hard as we can.”
In action from the first night of the Area 1-AAA Tournament on Thursday at Calhoun:
Calhoun, Sonoraville clinch State berths
Both Calhoun and Sonoraville clinched Class AAA State Tournament berths on Thursday with wins on the opening night of the area tournament.
The Lady Jackets (2713) defeated Haralson County in their only match on Thursday in two sets (25-14, 25-20) to advance to the winner’s bracket finals.
Sonoraville ( 1724) dropped their first match to Bremen in two sets (25-11, 25-22) but bounced back to defeat Adairsville in two sets (25-6, 25-16) in an elimination match.
For Calhoun, Anna George had six kills, two blocks and one ace, and Sophie Stewart added four kills to lead the effort. Also contributing was: Erin Kelly with three aces, Emma Kate Smith with two kills and one ace, and Erin Davis, Ashlyn Brzozoski and Callie Ledford with one ace apiece.
The Lady Phoenix had several players make an impact in their two matches, including Skylar Huskins with four aces on 14-of-14 serving along with three kills, and Abby Chambers with three aces, three kills and two blocks.
Also contributing to the stat sheet was: Kinsey Wilson with eight digs and two kill, Anissa Hales with seven digs and three assists, Alea Johnson with 10 assists, Hannah Wehunt with four digs and three aces, Bree Steely with two digs and two assists and Alexis Lincoln and Raleigh Hooper with two kills apiece.