Calera falls in 5A Elite Eight

Published 4:17 pm Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Sarah Goodwin stretches out to keep a volley alive during the Lady Eagles’ 5A Elite Eight match with Lawrence County on Oct. 28. Calera fell to Lawrence County 3-0. (Contributed / Michael Wade)

By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

BIRMINGHAM – After a strong start against one of the best 5A schools in the state, the Calera Lady Eagles couldn’t keep pace with Lawrence County down the stretch in the 5A Elite Eight, and eventually fell three sets to none.

Lawrence County, which won its 60^th match of the season with the win over Calera, was the No. 1 seed out of the North Super Regional while the Lady Eagles were the No. 4 out of the South. In the North Super Regional, the Lady Red Devils won three of their four matches in straight sets, including the championship match, and have been at the top of class 5A all year.

While the Lady Red Devils may have been one of the top teams in the state all regular season, in the Elite Eight that did not look like the case off the bat. Calera played like the better team for most of the set, holding a slight edge almost all the way. The Lady Eagles were serving well, feeding off the energy of a raucous crowd and were making few mental errors. However, with the score tied at 23-23, the 13^th tie of the set, Lawrence County edged out the next two points, and took the first set 1-0.

“I was happy with how we started,” Calera head coach Brittany Todd said after the match. “However, we did not finish well, obviously. They didn’t play together as one unit, and that’s what it’s going to take.”

The Lady Eagles couldn’t keep up with Lawrence County after the first set. The second set’s final score was relatively close at 25-18, but the result was never in much doubt. The third set was even more lopsided at 25-10.

Calera loses two seniors off of this team in Sydney Liles and Madison Brooks, and when asked if she felt the Lady Eagles could make it back to the state tournament next year, Todd was emphatic.

“Absolutely,” she said. “No doubt, no doubt in my mind. We will be a strong team next year, and I definitely foresee us being back here.”

Todd made her first trip to the state tournament this season in her second year as the head coach at Calera, and this was the second trip to the state tournament in the last three years for the Lady Eagles, who finished the season 13-18.