October 22, 2021
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
Donoho earns third straight trip to the Elite Eight with two Thursday victories at VonBraun Center; plays for seeding Friday
VOLLEYBALL SUPER REGIONALS
CLASS 1A
North
Donoho 3, Belgreen 0
Donoho 3, South Lamar 0
CLASS 2A
North
Spring Garden 3, Ider 0
Spring Garden 3, Lexington 0
CLASS 4A
North
Westminster 3, White Plains 0
Jacksonville 3, Priceville 1
Madison County 3, Jacksonville 0
South
Cleburne County 3, Sumter Central 0
Munford 3, Jackson 0
LAMP 3, Cleburne County 0
Montgomery Academy 3, Munford 0
HUNTSVILLE – Jamie Clendenin never had any doubts his Donoho volleyball team could get back to Birmingham this year for a chance to play for another state championship, but when expectations run that high even the slightest distraction can derail you.
The Lady Falcons didn’t have that problem Thursday. After a pedestrian finish to the regular season, they were back in form and swept Belgreen and South Lamar in the Class 1A North Super Regionals to earn a return ticket to next week’s Elite Eight in Birmingham.
They beat Belgreen 25-10, 25-11, 27-7 and followed it with a 25-16, 25-9, 25-9 drubbing of South Lamar. On Friday, they’ll play for their seeding in the Elite Eight, opening with Lindsay Lane at 10 a.m., then playing Ragland or Marion County at 1 for their bracket position.
“It was really important to show up and take care of business,” Clendenin said. “I felt like the last couple weeks we haven’t played up to our standard.
“The biggest worry for me is when expectations are high sometimes even the girls feel it and need to be good. I don’t think I was doubting their ability to get there, but sometimes your biggest enemy is yourself and sometimes they might not play to what they’re capable of. It was good to finally see them settle in.”
It’s not as if the Lady Falcons (47-9) played bad in their closing stretch – they only lost two matches (county finals to Alexandria and Pleasant Valley) – they just weren’t sharp. They came to play this week. As freshman Sam Wakefield said “everyone pushed the reset button and said let’s go.”
“Our goal since the beginning of the year has been to make it to state with the end goal being to win it,” Maggie Wakefield said. “This was our first big stepping stone to get there.
“Over the course of this month we were all shell-shocked by county and we got in the gym and worked and today it all came together Everything was clicking. Everyone from the bench to the court energy was there. Everybody had a super positive attitude and I think it helped a lot. To be going a third year in a row is incredible. A lot of us are super grateful to be here again.”
The Lady Falcons, who’ve come back with one red and one blue trophy over the last two years in the state finals, spread the wealth at the VonBraun Center.
Lily Grace Draper led them with 22 kills in the two matches. Maggie Wakefield had 18 (with five aces and 15 digs), Mary Marshall Perry 10 and Mercy Mangum and Estella Connell 11 each. Sam Wakefield had 64 assists, 24 digs and six aces. Connell also had four blocks, Draper 17 digs and Naira Rehman nine digs and four assists.
“I honestly couldn’t look at the court and tell you there was somebody who wasn’t playing good,” Clendenin said. “It would be really hard to point out a single person (as a standout) because everybody played so well. It was a good sight to see in a big game.”
“That’s why I think this team is so special,” Sam Wakefield said. “On most teams there are probably one or two good players and everyone else isn’t bad but they’re along for the ride. This team has people on all sides of the ball; everybody contributes something good. You can’t just watch film and say this person is going to hit the ball all the time. It’s everybody.”
DONOHO TWO-MATCH LEADERS
KILLS: Sam Wakefield 3, Maggie Wakefield 18, Mercy Mangum 11, Mary Marshall Perry 10, Lily Grace Draper 22, Estella Connell 10.
ASSISTS: Sam Wakefield 64, Maggie Wakefield 1, Naira Rehman 4.
ACES: Naira Rehman 2, Lily Grace Draper 4, Mary Marshall Perry 4, Mercy Mangum 1, Maggie Wakefield 5, Sam Wakefield 6.
DIGS: Sam Wakefield 24, Maggie Wakefield 15, Mercy Mangum 5, Mary Marshall Perry 4, Lily Grace Draper 17, Estella Connell 3, Naira Rehman 9, Yana Osovska 6.
BLOCKS: Estella Connell 4, Lily Grace Draper 2.
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