CABOT — “We only have good things to look forward to,” said Bryant Lady Hornets head volleyball coach Beth Solomon Tuesday after her team opened the Class 7A State Tournament with a 19-25, 25-18, 18-25, 15-25 loss to the host Cabot Lady Panthers.
“I’m upset our season’s over but we played well today,” she emphasized.
There were times when Solomon had six sophomores on the court then a junior, four sophomores and a freshman. The coach acknowledged that this State Tournament had more to do with getting her players experience, building for better things ahead. The whole squad will be back and because of the youth and more than their share of injuries, every one of them gained varsity experience during the season.
“Would it have been nice to have a win (at State) for these girls for next year?” Solomon asserted. “Absolutely. But we didn’t lose in three. We came out here and we played and went to four with a good team.”
In fact, Cabot’s players were mostly seniors and, after the match, Lady Panthers coach DeAnna Campbell reminded Solomon that two years ago, when all her girls were sophomores, “You went easy on us.”
In 2011, the Lady Hornets defeated Cabot, which was then a conference rival, in all six games of their two matches.
“I remember last year,” Solomon related, “coming off last year when I had a varsity team that was all seniors. We went undefeated in conference and all of that. But I can remember when those girls were these girls’ age and it was the same thing. So there are good things to look forward to.”
Talking about her team’s improvement from the start of the season, the coach said, “I feel they see the court now. They’re talking to each other more. Volleyball’s a mental sport. You’ve got to know how to get momentum going, how to get into the other team’s heads. We’ll pull it together for next year.”
They had it together pretty well for spurts during Tuesday’s match. The first game was nip-and-tuck with the Lady Hornets holding the upper hand halfway through. On a pair of kills by Dejai Kelley, another by Britney Sahlmann and a block by Allie Anderson and Sierra Jones, they led 7-2 early. Cabot rallied but didn’t gain the lead until senior Bailey Uhiren served up an ace to snap a 12-12 tie.
The match was tied at 15 but the Lady Panthers reeled off an 8-1 run interrupted only by another kill by Kelley to gain a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Sparked by a pair of kills by junior Mercedes Dillard, Bryant was within 24-19 before Cabot finished it off on a block by senior Taylor Bitely.
In the second game, Cabot got out of the gate well and led 4-2 before Bryant got it going. The match was tied 9-9 when the Lady Hornets broke serve and gained an edge. Savannah Shelton followed up with an ace to start a 13-5 surge that featured kills by Kelley and Jones, an ace from Abby Staton and a kill off a dink by Dillard. Kills by Dillard and Anderson pushed it to 22-14 forcing a Cabot timeout.
The Lady Panthers cut the margin back to 23-18 but Jones stepped up with a kill then a hitting error off a serve by Shelton gave the Lady Hornets the victory.
But game three didn’t start well for Bryant as the Lady Panthers pushed to a 6-0 lead on a pair of kills by Lakin Best and two aces by Uhiren.
It was 15-5 before Dillard cut into the margin with a pair of kills and Staton served up an ace. But that was answered by another surge by Cabot that produced a 21-10 advantage.
The Lady Hornets whittled on the lead and when Sahlmann and Anderson capped a run with back-to-back kills, they were within 21-17. But that was as close as they would get.
In the fourth game of the match, Bryant led 3-2 thanks to freshman Alex Dillard’s kill and a block that she combined with Anderson on. The match was tied at 3 and 4 before a series of hitting errors helped Cabot push out to a 10-4 lead.
It was 16-8 later in the match and the Lady Hornets put together one more bid to gain the lead. Sahlmann served back-to-back aces and it was 16-12. Campbell called a timeout and her players responded. The Lady Hornets were never that close again.
Kelley finished with a team-high eight kills. Mercedes Dillard and Jones each had five and Anderson four to go with a team-high four blocks. Sahlmann added three kills and Alex Dillard two. Sahlmann finished with 22 assists. Whitney Brown led with nine digs. Shelton came up with seven. Shayla McKissock and Sahlmann finished with three apiece.
At the service line, Staton and Sahlmann knocked down three aces. Shelton had two and Mercedes Dillard one.
