In their area tournament games Monday at Bayside Academy, both the T.R. Miller Lady Tigers and the W.S. Neal Lady Eagles saw their seasons come to an end with losses in the semifinals. T.R. Miller finished their season with a 15-6 record while W.S. Neal ended their season with a record of 7-14.
No. 1 seed Bayside, who is also ranked No. 1 in the state in class 3A, defeated No. 4 seed W.S. Neal 25-13, 25-4 and 25-11.
Also Monday, No. 2 seed in the area and No. 5 in the state Cottage Hill took care of T.R. Miller 25-12, 25-7 and 25-13.
Bayside went on to sweep Cottage Hill 25-19, 25-17 and 25-18 to win the area 1 tournament championship.
Both Bayside Academy and Cottage Hill move on to the Super Regionals in Montgomery on Friday. The Admirals open play at 11:30 a.m. and Cottage Hill opens at 9:30 a.m.
Bayside improved to 50-8 overall while Cottage Hill went to 28-14.
“We played hard and gave great effort,” T.R. Miller head coach Greg White said of his team. “I’ve got to give credit to Cottage Hill. They and Bayside are two very good teams and that’s why they are No. 1and No. 2 in the area. My girls did everything that was asked of them and that’s all I can ask for. They had a great season and played some very good volleyball along the way. We lost six games all year and five of them were to Bayside and Cottage Hill. They have nothing to hang their head about. They played with a lot of pride and class the way a T.R. Miller team should play and I am proud of them for that.”
W.S. Neal head coach Jason Blaney thought his team’s overall season was very good, but their record of 7-13 does not tell the whole story.
“From when I stepped in I worked the girls extremely hard and they never quit once,” he said. “They stepped up every time and gave me their all. I do think there was some games, of course, that we could’ve played better in. It was a learning experience on all accounts. I do know that during the off-season will do all I can to better myself so I can help the girls better themselves.”
Blaney said his team is losing two “great” seniors in Jasmine Crook and Tiffany Sawyer.
“Both of them had the best season that they could have had this season, but I also had three freshmen that I know will step up next year and keep contributing to the team,” he said. “Our setter, Tykeria Nolan, will be returning for her senior year and after the outstanding year she had I am super excited about next year. Front hitter Jody Busby, who kept getting stronger and stronger as the season progressed, will be our main hitter next year and I expect her to continue the off-season and next season where she left off this season and take up the load of losing Jasmine.”
Blaney said Madison Winchester and Karissa Johnson will be returning next year as well.
“They both had a spectacular season as Madison stepped into her new role as
libero and played it amazingly,” Blaney said. “Karissa is a great utility player who can hit, dig, set and serve very well and will only continue to get better. Returning next year will also be Kametria Lawson, Dinah Samuel and Haleigh Dubose, all of whom contributed mightily to the program this year. I have some other girls that were on the JV team that I do expect to step up next season and be have role on varsity. Big key will be to continue conditioning through the off-season. I will say that it was an amazing year, and we all are very excited of the way the program is going and the seasons to come.”