PREP VOLLEYBALL: Auburn High young, but talented

A scroll down the roster of this year’s version of the Auburn High varsity volleyball team yields no seniors.

It also yields only three juniors and only three players that would have also appeared on the 2008 roster.

So it would not be inaccurate to say this Tigers team is young. It might even be an understatement.

Not that that’s a bad thing.

“It can be looked at as a negative,” assistant coach Nikki Dellinger said. “But because they are so young, they’ve molded so well. A lot of times when you have a group of seniors and you’ve got a bunch of sophomores coming up, they don’t have the same friends or interests because there’s a maturity difference.

“But because they’re all about the same level, they’ve been able to mold really well together. That’s been really important.”

Coming off an area championship and heading into the regional tournament this weekend, this young Auburn team has its sights on a return trip to the sub-state level.
In fact, it’s almost a given.

All the Tigers (23-12) have to do at Northview High School in Dothan is beat Smiths Station (11-11) — a team they have swept twice this season — at 11:15 this morning and they’re
in to sub-states.

But that’s not the point of this weekend. The more matches the Tigers win Saturday, the better their seeding will be in the next round.

And there’s always the chance they’ll run up against rival Benjamin Russell again, against which Auburn rallied from a 2-1 deficit last week to win the area title in five games at the Wildcats’ home gym.

Prattville, Dothan, Russell County, Enterprise and Jeff Davis round out the regional field.

The first-round matches will be played at 10 and 11:15, the semifinals will be at 1:30 p.m., the consolation final will be at 2:45 and the championship match will be at 4.

“It’s just going for everything and not being hesitant,” said sophomore middle blocker Hannah Birdsong. “And play with heart. Have heart.”

“And if we play a team that’s not so great,” added sophomore libero Nicole Hiett, “that we don’t sink down to their level and we keep playing at our best.”

If Birdsong and Hiett act like they’ve been there before, it’s because they have.

The two sophomores, along with junior setter Leah Zutter are the only three players back from last year’s squad.

There’s a reason why their names are usually the first to come up in the stat sheet, Dellinger said.

“Their playing ability and maturity on the court is a really good bar to set for the other kids,” she said. “They each have instrumental parts because of the positions they play and because of their experience.”

Zutter said that even though the Tigers lost a number of players from last year’s team, their replacements have done a good job filling in.

And there’s always something to be said for chemistry.

“We lost some of our hitters, but we’ve really stepped up and everyone’s a well-rounded player,” Zutter said. “We’re all united.”

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