PREP VOLLEYBALL: Athens Bible punches ticket to state tournament
Published 8:20 pm Thursday, October 26, 2023
- ABS
Athens Bible’s volleyball team is headed back to Birmingham.
The Class 1A Trojans eliminated No. 3 Meek (27-25, 27-29, 26-24, 21-25, 15-9) in a five-set thriller at Thursday’s North Super Regional in Huntsville before moving past Marion County (25-16, 22-25, 27-25, 25-19) in four sets to secure a spot at next week’s state tournament for the first time in four years.
Athens Bible (14-19) claimed revenge against Meek, which sent home the Trojans last season only one victory shy of a state berth.
The Trojans will continue play on Friday against Sumiton Christian — for seeding purposes and to potentially claim a super regional title — at 10 a.m. The other semifinal consists of No. 1 Addison and No. 2 Spring Garden.
“You always love playing competitive ball against competitive teams,” Athens Bible coach EA Winland said. “They knew we were playing Meek and wanted revenge. It’s a huge deal and accomplishment for this team and I’m really proud of them. To leave here today and know we’re going to state is exciting.”
Claire Holt (38 kills, 23 blocks and 20 digs), Anna Beth Burns (72 assists) and Brooke Blakely (18 kills) secured the top contributions for the Trojans on Thursday.
Five other local volleyball teams also qualified for this week’s North Super Regional.
Unfortunately, none were able to pick up the two wins needed to advance to the state tournament.
See below for capsules.
Class 2A
No. 9 Lindsay Lane eliminated Ider in three sets (25-16, 25-20, 25-19) Wednesday before suffering a five-set loss (25-21, 17-25, 25-19, 22-25, 15-5) to No. 3 Donoho, ending its season one win shy of the state tournament.
Class 3A
Clements’ season ended Wednesday following a three-set loss (25-16, 25-16, 25-19) to No. 1 Plainview.
Class 5A
East Limestone’s season ended Wednesday following a three-set loss (25-11, 25-13, 25-19) to No. 2 Arab.
Class 6A
Athens’ season ended Wednesday following a three-set loss (25-17, 28-26, 25-20) to No. 10 Fort Payne.
Class 7A
James Clemens’ season ended Thursday following a five-set loss (25-22, 15-25, 25-13, 22-25, 15-13) to No. 10 Spain Park.
