Birmingham, AL – Spring Garden sweeps Faith Christian and Addison to reach 1A final, and Cherokee County falls in 4A quarterfinals.
Editor’s note: For coverage of Pleasant Valley’s state-championship victory over Sand Rock, see separate story.
By Joe Medley
Avery Gowens once called Ricky Austin “coach.”
Make that opposing coach when Austin’s Spring Garden team swept Gowens’ Faith Christian team in the Class 1A state volleyball quarterfinals Wednesday at Birmingham CrossPlex, and Austin took pride in the connection when he and Gowen shook hands under the net.
“He said that, if there’s one thing that he liked, it’s that it was two Spring Garden people here,” Gowens said.
Austin’s team (53-6) went on to sweep face Addison in the semifinals (more below), avenging a five-set loss in the North Super Regional semifinals, and will face University Charter in Thursday’s 2 p.m. title match.
Faith Christian (35-23) finished off its most successful season since 2018, the last time the Lions made it to Birmingham. The 2018 team advanced to the semifinals.
Led by Ace Austin’s 21 kills and Ace Austin’s 38 assists, Spring Garden dominated the match 25-13, 25-12, 25-8. Ally Folsom paced Faith with five kills, and Kayson Cronan had 19 assists.
For Faith, the accomplishment was getting back to Birmingham. It marked a first for the three seniors, Folsom, Abigail Morse and Hannah Hubbard and bridge the program back to the 2018 team.
“It was a very hard game,” Folsom said. “It was a lot harder than any of the other games that we’ve had to play this season. We all worked hard. We tried.
“I wish we could keep going, especially my senior year. This is the farthest we’ve ever made it.”
Spring Garden swept Faith in all three of their clashes this season, the others coming on Aug. 26 and Sept. 19.
“They’ve improved since we played them last time,” Austin said. “They did a good job of covering the floor and not being caught up on the moment first time here. That’s kind of big, but I was proud of our bunch for just settling down and finishing this thing and taking the next step.”
That Faith Christian and Spring Garden played on the state’s biggest stage set up through their Super Regional finishes. Spring Garden was the North third-place finisher, and Faith the South’s runner up.
Gowens played basketball under Austin at Spring Garden.
“He was always at practice every day, hard worker,” Austin said. “Never was a starter but was a very good role guy and a good teammate.
“Never once did you ever see anything in his eyes that he ever thought, ‘I can’t do something.’ He was always positive about, I can do whatever I asked him to do, and that’s what I remember about him, and how much he believed in me at his coach.”
Gowens, who just concluded his second season as Faith’s head coach, copped to an extra “want to beat” his former coach but called it a “friendly competition.”
“I feel like part of my competitive spirit comes from my Spring Garden roots,” Gowens said. “It comes from basketball and being under him, and learning that whatever sports you’re in, you give it your all, and you dedicate yourself and blood, sweat and tears, nothing less.
“That’s what he’s done to make Spring Garden successful in any sport, even softball and football, sports he’s not even touched. He just has that impact on every player.”
Spring Garden to finals
Spring Garden’s only state championship in volleyball came in 2007, and the eight basketball players on that team went on to go undefeated en route to a basketball state title.
The current Spring Garden volleyball team, one win away from a state title, has nine basketball players.
“This has that same feel,” Spring Garden coach Ricky Austin said.
The Panthers not only survived the first day of the state volleyball tournament but swept it, including a 3-0 victory over 14-time and defending state champion Addison in the 1A semifinals.
It marked Spring Garden’s first victory over Addison in Austin’s long tenure as head coach and avenged a five-set loss to Addison in the North Super Regional semifinals.
The Panthers also avenged a 3-0 loss to Addison in last year’s state semifinals.
The Super Regional loss doomed Spring Garden to third place, but Austin said they were right on schedule at state.
“I didn’t feel like regional was the right time to beat them,” he said. “I felt like they’re good enough that we only beat them one time.
“I didn’t do anything to keep us from winning at regionals, but when we played them we saw a few things that we tweaked that just made a little bit of difference, not so much in the game but giving our girls confidence.”
Ace Austin led Spring Garden with 17 kills, and Avery Steward had 30 assists. Chloe Rule defended the net with 11 blocks, and libero Layla Ingram had 10 digs.
“To beat a good team like that, you’ve to have an alpha type player, and Ace was just enough of an alpha type player to make a huge difference tonight,” Austin said. “Chloe Rule was great defensively. Olivia Law was great blocking and scoring off the hit on various areas of the court.
“Our setter Avery Steward probably played the best game I’ve seen her play from a setter standpoint. Kristen Lewis, a defensive specialist, and Layla Ingram, our libero, made some unbelievable digs to keep some balls alive.”
Match stats
CLASS 4A
UMS Wright 3, Cherokee County 0: Cherokee County’s run ended in the quarterfinals, 24-26, 20-25, 16-25. Top performers for the Warriors:
— Nevaeh Gaidurgis: 17 kills, one block, five digs, one ace.
— Macy Lea: one block, six digs, 25 assists.
— Ellisan Givens: 12 digs, one assist, one ace.
— Ava Haygood: six kills, one block, eight digs, two assists.
— Raegan Garmany: four kills, one block, one dig.
CLASS 1A
Spring Garden-Faith Christian: Spring Garden wins 25-13, 25-12, 25-8, will play Addison at 5 p.m. Rematch of five-setter at North Super Regional. Top performers:
Spring Garden
— Ace Austin: 21 kills, three digs.
— Avery Steward: 38 assists.
— Chloe Rule: 10 kills, five blocks.
— Layla Ingram: eight digs.
— Olivia Law: six kills, five blocks, one dig.
Faith Christian
— Ally Folsom: five kills, two blocks, eight digs.
— Kayson Cronan: 19 digs.
— Anna Kate Robertson: two kills, six digs, 15 assists.
— Serenity Pate: four kills, seven blocks, one assist.
— Cheyenne Rice: one kill, one block, two digs.
Spring Garden 3, Addison 0: Less than a week after the Panthers (53-6) lost a five-setter to Addison in the North Super Regional semifinals, they swept Addison 25-20, 25-3, 26-24 in the state semifinals to earn a place in Thursday’s 2 p.m. championship match in Bill Harris Arena.
Top performers for Spring Garden:
— Ace Austin: four digs, one assist, 17 kills.
— Avery Steward: 30 assists, one dig, one kill.
— Chloe Rule: one assist, seven kills, 11 blocks.
— Maggie Jarrett: one ace, seven digs, one assist, five kills.
— Olivia Law: One ace, one dig, seven kills, one block.
— Layla Ingram: 10 digs, two assists.
State volleyball pairings
BIRMINGHAM CROSSPLEX
CLASS 6A
Tuesday, 1:30 p.m.
Bayside Academy def. Oxford, 3-0
CLASS 5A
Tuesday, 10:30 a.m.
Alexandria def. Rehobeth, 3-0
Arab def. Alexandria, 3-2 (Semifinals)
CLASS 4A
Wednesday, 9 a.m.
UMS Wright def. Cherokee County, 3-0
CLASS 3A
Tuesday, 9 a.m.
Mobile Christian def. Glencoe, 3-0
Plainview def. Wellborn, 3-0
CLASS 2A
Tuesday, noon
Pleasant Valley def. Wicksburg, 3-1
Pleasant Valley def. Washington County, 3-0 (Semifinals)
G.W. Long def. Donoho, 3-1
Wednesday
Pleasant Valley def. Sand Rock, 3-0
CLASS 1A
Wednesday, noon
Spring Garden def. Faith Christian, 3-0
Spring Garden def. Addison, 3-0 (Semifinals)
Thursday
Spring Garden vs. University Charter, 2 p.m.
