PREP VOLLEYBALL: Addison heading to 11th straight state tourney after North Super Regional title

Published 11:00 pm Monday, October 29, 2012

Of all the years Pam Wilkins has spent at Addison, she’d never won a regional championship.

In the volleyball coach’s defense, it’s not too easy to win a tournament that didn’t exist until this past weekend.

The top-ranked Bulldogs (Class 1A) blazed through all four opponents on Friday and Saturday in Huntsville, claiming the inaugural North Super Regional title and advancing to the state tournament for the 11th straight season.

Addison easily defeated Tharptown (25-3, 25-9, 25-3) on Day 1 before blowing by Covenant Christian (26-24, 25-11, 25-14), No. 8 Athens Bible (25-9, 25-6, 25-9) and No. 3 Lynn (25-17, 25-18, 15-11) on Saturday to win the regional championship.

This marked the first year the Alabama High School Athletics Association strayed from the sub-state tournament format, choosing instead to implement a regional bracket similar to the one used by the state’s girls and boys basketball teams.

Wilkins wasn’t sure what to make of the change going into the weekend but had glowing reviews for it by the time her team hopped on the bus to head home from the Von Braun Center.

“I ended up really liking it,” she said. “They made it just like the state tournament. It was really loud in there, and you couldn’t hear. The regionals had that state tournament atmosphere. I think it will be good for the kids.”

Three of the four 1A teams — Addison, Lynn and Meek — that advanced from the North Super Regional were from Winston County, with Athens Bible rounding out the foursome.

With Winston County High also moving on as the No. 4 seed in 3A, all four teams in the county will be represented at the state tournament. Wilkins said she was happy to see Meek earn its first trip to the Elite Eight because one of her former players and her sister-in-law make up the Tigers’ coaching staff.

“That’s really nice. It says a lot about volleyball definitely getting stronger in our area,” she said of Winston County’s strong presence.

The Bulldogs won’t have long to rest for the state tournament, which begins Wednesday morning at the Birmingham Crossplex. Their first match will be at 11 a.m. against No. 10 Akron. If Addison wins, it will play again at 5 p.m. against the victor of the first-round match between No. 4 Sacred Heart and Athens Bible.

If everything goes the Bulldogs’ way, they’ll play for the 1A state championship at 9 a.m. on Thursday.

With Donoho advancing as the No. 1 seed out of the South Super Regional, the Falcons and Addison could be on a crash course for a highly anticipated rematch of last year’s final. Donoho won that battle in a five-set thriller (19-25, 25-21, 20-25, 25-20, 17-15).

The Bulldogs took over as the state’s No. 1 squad in 1A  earlier this season after taking down the host Falcons 25-4, 17-25, 15-12 at the annual Donoho Classic.

Addison has reached the state tournament every year since Wilkins joined the high school’s volleyball program as an assistant coach in 2002. The Bulldogs have won five state titles since she took over as head coach the following year.

“Everybody was tickled to death when we were runner-up that first year in ’02,” Wilkins said. “They thought we had done something big. But nobody wants to be runner-up anymore.

“Sometimes I tell them, let’s just get to the championship match first, but they’re never happy with that. They always want to win the whole thing. I’m glad they’re like that.”

Holly Pond, Cold Springs, Good Hope and Fairview also competed at the North Super Regional.

The 3A Broncos were the only Cullman County team to advance to the second day, beating Mars Hill Bible in four sets (16-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-21) before ending their season to No. 3 Madison Academy in three sets (25-6, 25-16, 28-26).

The 2A Eagles, 3A Raiders and 4A Aggies were all eliminated on Friday with respective losses to No. 4 Hatton (25-11, 25-21, 22-25, 25-21), No. 9 Ashville (25-21, 25-18, 25-16) and No. 1 Madison County (25-6, 25-5, 25-10).

Madison Academy and Madison County went on to win North Super Regional titles, while Hatton moved on to the Elite Eight as the regional runner-up.

% Rob Ketcham can be reached at 256-734-2131, ext. 257 or at robk@cullmantimes.com.