From staff reports

T.R. Miller’s Lady Tiger volleyball team saw their season come to an end Saturday at the Super Regionals in Montgomery, just one win away from a trip to the Elite 8 Tournament.
After defeating Fultondale 3-0 on Friday, TRM advanced to the next round of play on Saturday before falling to Cottage Hill. The loss ended TRM’s season with a 20-6 overall record.
Against Fultondale on Friday, TRM won 25-9, 25-7, and 25-15.
In set one, Allie Nelson led with six service points and four kills while Amelia Peach had four service points and four kills. Mykayla Harrison had three kills and four blocks. Myra Reiss and Caitlyn Smith had three service points each.
In set two, Lizzy Pollitte had nine service points and Anna Kate Brittain had three service points and three kills. Nelson had three service points and four kills.
In set three, Peach had six service points and five kills while Reiss had four service points and six assists. Smith and Nelson had three service points each.
TRM head coach Greg White said his team came out excited and played very focused on what they needed to do.
“We had an advantage on the net and we used it,” White said. “Our setters and hitters worked well together and we did a very good job on the service line as well. Winning this game allowed us to play on Saturday for a chance to go to the Elite 8.”
Against Cottage Hill on Saturday, TRM lost 3-0. The Lady Tigers lost 25-14, 25-22, and 25-15.
In set one, Peach led with five service points and three kills while Harrison had three kills and two blocks.
In set two, Reiss had three service points and four assists while Peach three points and three kills. Pollitte added three points while Nelson had three kills and two blocks.
In set three, Peach had six service points while Harrison had four kills and two blocks. Peach had three kills in the loss.
White said his team played well in spots, but not consistent enough to win.
“We had an opportunity to win game two, but we had a couple of unforced serving errors at the end of the game that hurt us,” White said. “When you get to that level of the playoffs you have to be consistent in everything that you do to have an opportunity to win. Cottage Hill is a very good team that is well-coached and they do a good job with their program. We know now how hard we have to work and what we have to do to get back to the super regionals and be competitive.”
As for the season, White said he told the girls Saturday that they needed to be mad that they lost.
“They needed to be mad that our season was over,” he said. “If you are not mad then you are not a competitor, but when they got over being mad they needed to reflect on our season and realize we did some good things.”
White said his team had many things to celebrate in 2014.
“We won 20 games and lost only six,” White said. “We won the area championship (regular season and tournament) for only the second time in school history. We won the county championship for the 10th year in a row and advanced to the super regionals for the first time (different format in previous years). We did some good things and I am extremely proud of the effort that they played with this season. We are losing only one senior and we have some JV players moving up for next year, so we are hoping to keep playing at a high level and play the way that a T.R. Miller team is supposed to play.”
WSN volleyball at Super
Regionals
Playing in the South Super Regionals Friday against Montevallo, the W.S. Neal volleyball team took a 3-0 loss to end their season with a 16-12 record.
The Lady Eagles lost 25-14, 25-17, and 25-16.
Tykeria Nolan led with four service winners and one kill while Jodi Busby had 11 service winners, two aces, and three kills. Karissa Johnson added five service winners, three aces, and five kills.
WSN head coach Jason Blaney said Montevallo is a very good team and they did a great job taking his team out of their game.
“It was new for this group of girls and myself,” Blaney said. “Next year I need to do a better job of preparing us for regionals, which we do plan on returning to.”
As for the season, Blaney said as a team they set some goals at the end of last season and exceeded every one of those.
“Our record was 16-12, area runner-up and advanced to regionals,” Blaney said. “We had an outstanding season. We fought hard in every one of our matches. Every girl stepped up in a big way.”
Blaney said his team had two hitters that had over 125 kills each.
“Those two were Dinah Samuel and Jodi Busby,” Blaney said. “Busby had over 160. Our service game was much improved from last year with five of our six starting servers having 40 aces or more. Our defense stepped up also. We had consistent play defensively.”
The Lady Eagles will be returning eight varsity players next season.
“Madison Winchester played outstanding as our libero and coming in as a hitter when needed also,” Blaney said. “Karissa Johnson had her best year yet both offensively and defensively. Both of those girls barely sat at all this year, improved in every aspect and I am excited for what they both are going to bring next season. Dinah Samuel and Haleigh Dubose played very consistent both offensively and defensively and I look forward to what they bring next season. They both are very good all-round players.”
Blaney noted other players that had good years this season.
“Tiffany Robinson is a great athlete and is going to see her role as hitter really step up next year,” he said. “Donnavia Williams has worked so hard in the off-season and it showed and I know she will continue to work to be that back-row specialist that we need and excited to see her growth as a player. Alyssa English had a great season that was cut short and I look forward to her being back on the court next year, which we all will be looking forward to. Marishia Fraser is just a freshman and helped us out in so many ways and I am excited to see her continuing to transition into a big hitter role for us.”
Blaney said all the girls are extremely hard working and know what he expects.
“I look forward to next season as I know we are ending this hungry for more and will work harder than this past year to better ourselves,” he said. “We are losing two seniors in Tykeria Nolan and Jodi Busby. Both of who are irreplaceable. They have been outstanding this season and the growth I have seen in them, both in their abilities and in their leadership has been amazing and will truly be missed. It has been my honor to coach them and I am thankful for that opportunity. They have a bright future in whatever they do and look forward to hearing of all their success.”