BIRMINGHAM — Spring Garden is home, sweet home for volleyball star Addie Word, but she's not ready to go back just yet.
"Don't want to go home," Word said with a grin after her Panthers beat Maplesville 25-14, 16-25, 25-16, 25-23 in the Class 1A state volleyball quarterfinals Tuesday afternoon.
They aren't headed back to Spring Garden just yet. They'll face North Super Regional champion Addison in Tuesday's semifinals at 6 p.m. If the Panthers (30-19) win, they'll play in Wednesday's state finals at 2 p.m. That's the goal of Word for her and her teammates, who not only will get to play for a state title but miss another day of school as well.
"I think we're playing really well as a team right now," said Word, who had 13 kills, including several critical ones as Spring Garden fought off a Maplesville rally in the fourth set.
"Me and (setter) Lleyton (Carroll) have a really good connection going right now, and our passers are doing great. It's just really exciting to get the win."
Spring Garden won state volleyball titles in 2023 and 2024 but there's only three players still with the squad who was part of either of those teams: senior Lacie McMurray, Aubrey Kelley and Carroll.
Kelly paced Spring Garden against Maplesville with 14 kills and 17 kills, while Carroll stayed busy by providing 39 assists and 13 digs. Maya Jennings and Kylie Bates each had seven kills. Lacie McMurray, Addie Smith and Gracie Simpson each had nine digs.
Spring Garden's showdown with Maplesville started 45 minutes late because a previous match went five sets. Once the Panthers hit the floor, they started strong at 6-1 and kept the momentum for the rest of the set.
The second set went sour, but Spring Garden started the third fast by winning the first four points. They maintained the lead the rest of the way.
"We just had to come back like it never happened," Word said. "You just got to forget it like it never happened."
In the fourth set, Spring Garden won the first four points again and led by as much as 13-7. Maplesville clawed back into the match and cut the Garden advantage to 24-20 and then won the next three points.
Spring Garden won the final point to clinch the win.
Speaker 1 0:02
Could you talk about the excitement of winning that match, and you and your teammates playing hard, especially the third and fourth sets?
Speaker 2 0:10
I don't know. We just we I think we're playing really well as a team right now, and me me and Layton have a really good connection going right now, and our passers are doing great right now, and I don't know. It's just like really exciting to get like I don't know to win. The
Speaker 1 0:29
second set didn't go your way, but you guys started out on fire in the third set and kept control. Fourth set started quick. What do those fast starts mean?
Speaker 2 0:40
Um. I don't know, but when we was down the second set, we just had to come back like like it never happened. You just gotta like forget about it. So
Speaker 1 0:52
it's good philosophy. Now looking forward to another match. That must be nice to not go home yet.
Speaker 2 0:59
Yes, it is. Don't want to go home.
Speaker 1 1:02
Thank you so.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai