Enterprise wins volleyball regional

After watching her volleyball team struggle in the opening game of the Class 6A, Regional B Tournament championship match Saturday, Enterprise head coach Rita Tanner had a message for her troops: kick it in gear or lose the title.

The Wildcats responded to the message, winning the final three games to take the regional tournament with an 18-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-17 victory over Benjamin Russell.

Enterprise advanced to the finals with a 25-18, 25-11, 25-20 win over Jeff Davis and a hard-fought 25-21, 24-26, 25-16, 26-24 win over Auburn.

By winning the regional, the ’Cats (35-3) will host Mary Montgomery in the sub-state round Thursday. The winner advances to the Elite Eight in Pelham for a chance at the state title.

“I was worried that we hadn’t played the teams like Auburn and Benjamin Russell (this year), but I knew if we played hard, we could beat them and could win, but it would take digging deep like some of them did,” Tanner said. “That is what it takes, and they did it.
“We beat a good Auburn team and beat a good Benjamin Russell team. I am excited.”

Tanner credited seniors with helping push Enterprise over the top. The team features nine seniors — Bailey Harrelson, Tori Nadolny, Ashley Carnley, Brigitia Delacruz, Hannah Martin, Ashley Newell, Devin Fleming, Julia Stroud and Brittany Perry.

“I have some good senior leadership,” Tanner said. “Bailey Harrelson and Tori (Nadolny) have played great all season long, but they stepped it up a notch. Ashley Carnley stepped it up a notch. I saw the leadership come out of her today. It made a big difference. All the seniors stepped up.”

Benjamin Russell (28-9) controlled most of the first game but began to dominate midway behind the play of Torlandria Jones and Sharlia Marbury. The two helped spark a string of six straight points to push the Alexander City team up 15-9.

Enterprise never recovered, eventually losing the game 25-18.

“It was like they didn’t get enough down time in between the matches,” Tanner said of her players. “They were so up, playing hard against Auburn (in the semifinals), and it was like they were drained in that first game.

“We told them in between, ‘This is it. You either are going to find it in you to get out here to play to win, or this will be it.’ We did what we needed to do.”

Enterprise players got the message and began literally digging out shots, rarely letting a shot go down without an intense dive. That effort helped the Wildcats earn a 25-19 win in game two.

EHS continued the momentum early in game three, building a quick 7-0 lead. Harrelson and Chelsea Scott had kills in the spurt.
A kill by Jones, Russell’s dynamite power hitter, ended the spurt, but Enterprise maintained control and led 12-5.

Benjamin Russell, though, came back, cutting it to two four times, the last at 21-19.

A kill by Ashlee Smith pushed Enterprise’s lead to 22-19, then BRHS hit into the net for another Wildcat point and Mary Robinson lofted a soft shot into a hole, giving Enterprise a 24-19 lead.

Benjamin Russell then left a long dig on top of the net and Smith made it a costly mistake, quickly pounding it back before a return could be made. The quick slam gave Enterprise the game 25-19.

Benjamin Russell grabbed the early lead in game three and led 12-10 when Enterprise scored four straight go up 14-12. Tip shots over blocks by Robinson and Smith sparked the flurry, and Robinson also had a block for a point.

Enterprise eased out to a five-point lead at 19-14, but Benjamin Russell cut it back to two at 19-17 following a kill by Quad Robinson.
Smith then delivered a tip shot over a block into a hole, turning the serve over to Enterprise’s Julia Stroud.

During a volley on Stroud’s first serve, Scott earned a kill to make it 21-17, then Tahmya Newsome earned a kill, giving the Wildcats a five-point cushion.

Benjamin Russell hit into the net then hit a serve out of bounds, pushing Enterprise to match point.

Scott then smashed down a kill, giving the Wildcats the match.

In the championship, Enterprise delivered 53 kills, led by 12 each from Scott and Harrelson. Robinson had 11, Smith nine and Newsome eight.

Nadolny had 39 assists, setting up most of the kills, and also had two aces.

Defensively, Kelsey McLean had 20 digs, Ashley Carnley 11 Harrelson eight and Stroud seven, while Robinson had four blocks and Scott two.

Harrelson and Scott added two aces each, and Stroud had one.

Jones led Benjamin Russell with 21 kills, four solo blocks and two assisted blocks, six digs and an ace. Marbury had 12 kills, 12 digs and four aces. Abigail Jones had six digs, and Jazmin Lopez was in on eight blocks.

Earlier in the day, Dothan was eliminated in the first round, but not before giving Prattville a tough time. The Tigers lost 25-13, 25-22, 25-20.

Auburn took third place at the tournament, beating Prattville 22-25, 25-21, 25-23, 24-26, 15-13.