Elmore County entered this year’s ECHS Block Party tournament on the back of Thursday’s defeat to Wetumpka in a five-set thriller. The Panthers knew they wanted a rematch and they did what they needed to do to make that happen, winning their first four matches to set up a meeting with Wetumpka in the tournament’s final Saturday night.
The match was played on the same court as Thursday’s match but the result was much different as the Panthers needed just two sets to reclaim the trophy. Elmore County finished off a close first set before running away in the second to complete the sweep, 26-24, 25-14.
“I think the girls just really wanted to keep going,” ECHS coach Kim Moncrief said. “They didn’t want to stop. We have battled with them and come up close before but fell short. We wanted to push forward to get those wins. They were hungry for this.”
Elmore County (12-13) managed to come out on top in a back-and-forth first set which include nine ties and eight lead changes. Wetumpka took a 23-22 lead, forcing a timeout from Moncrief and the Panthers responded in a big way.
After winning the serve back, Abbi Williams gave Elmore County the lead with an ace. Wetumpka fought back to tie the set but a kill from Seanna O’Daniel and a ball handling error on Wetumpka allowed the Panthers to finish off the set.
“We have had several times with match point and we wouldn’t close it,” Moncrief said. “We were determined that we wouldn’t stop at 24.”
The second set started in similar fashion with the teams level through the first 16 points. O’Daniel broke the tie with back-to-back kills, forcing a timeout from Wetumpka, and the Panthers never looked back. O’Daniel finished the day with 16 total kills.
“Seanna has been playing really good volleyball,” Moncrief said. “She was voted on all-tournament team last weekend (at Stanhope Elmore). She has really turned it on and has been seeing the ball really well.”
Her consecutive kills started a string of nine consecutive points for the Panthers and Wetumpka could never fully recover. Kelley Green eventually finished off the championship match with her third kill of the match.
“I just think our girls wanted every point,” Moncrief said. “Sometimes you have a tendency to relax after a couple of points but they were focused on that ‘every point matters’ and fight for the next one. That attitude and that mentality really stuck in that second set.”
Elmore County got to the championship by avenging another regular season loss in the semifinal, knocking off area foe Marbury. After dropping the first set, the Panthers responded with a dominant second set before finishing off the tiebreaker set to earn a 18-25, 25-13, 15-10 victory.
Coranda Lozada finished with six kills against Marbury along with seven digs. O’Daniel, Madison Britt and Natalie Sullivan finished with three kills each.
Several players found their form throughout the day as Elmore County spread out its attack while using two separate setters. Williams led the team with 27 assists but starting setter Chloe Andress also added 24.
Lozada led the way with 19 kills while Lizzy Brown and Sullivan added 12 each. Green recorded 10 kills and Britt finished with nine kills and four blocks.
“We work hard in all of our rotations in practice,” Moncrief said. “I feel as comfortable with our second rotation as I do with the first one.”
Elmore County helped Moncrief to another trophy with the tournament win but the coach also hit another milestone. With the Panthers’ two-set victory over Stanhope Elmore in the quarterfinals, Moncrief recorded her 200th career win as a coach.
“I’m very blessed to have had a lot of success with the teams I have had,” Moncrief said. “Every one of the teams I have had means a lot to me. That mile marker feels good but that belongs to the girls. They were the ones that won those matches.”
