For the first time since 2018, Stanhope Elmore’s volleyball team took down its archrival.
Stanhope Elmore beat Wetumpka, 3-1 (14-25, 25-18, 27-25, 25-11) in a premier AHSAA Class 6A, Area 4 matchup. The Mustangs improved to 2-0 in area play with the win, and beat their rival for the first time since 2018 and first time under coach Flavia Freeney.
Stanhope has beaten both Percy Julian and Wetumpka once this year and has yet to face Montgomery Academy, last year’s Class 5A champs.
“That win was huge for us,” Freeney said. “The rivalry between Wetumpka and Stanhope is so intense, and to come up with a win like that against a team you’ve lost to so many times was just amazing. Our girls have been working, working and working to that end. Everything fell into place. They played phenomenal.”
It didn’t start out well for Stanhope, and for the first set the matchup looked much like it had the previous six seasons. Freeney made a mistake in her rotation, and she caught it too late.
The official checked and confirmed the rotation, and Stanhope was stuck with how she wrote it up for the first set.
That resulted in the 25-14 loss in Set 1, but that change was quickly corrected before Set 2, which Stanhope came back and won 25-18.
“That was my mistake,” Freeney said. “I put in the wrong rotation. We talked about doing something else on the court, and I just filled it out wrong. I told the girls that we just needed to make it through the first set and then we could make our change. Once we did, everything fell into place.”
It was an all-around balanced performance for the Mustangs on the court. Zoie Holmes, the team’s setter, was chasing down balls every which way that Wetumpka’s hitters would knock them.
Her twin, Zori, showed up alongside Hayden Bush up front as hitters. They read each other well and put together a performance that Stanhope will remember for a while.
“I really don’t think we had a player of the game,” Freeney said. “They all played so well. When we would start to get down, they’d regroup. I don’t want to say fight because they were already playing strong but they’d just regroup and supported each other.”
While the win is a milestone and a first for every girl on the varsity roster, Freeney is making sure to preach to her team that this isn’t their season goal.
Stanhope has its first match with Montgomery Academy on Tuesday the 10th, and that will be a large telling point for where the Mustangs stand when it comes to the playoffs. Following that game, Stanhope will have to play each area team again one more time before the area tournament later this season.
The rematch with Wetumpka is scheduled to be at Wetumpka on Thursday, Sept. 19 where Freeney is expecting a grand welcoming.
“One thing we talked about last night is staying humble,” Freeney said. “That’s going to be big for us going forward. We realize it was a big win, however there are still big games in front of us. Our work’s not done. There is no walk in the park in our region. These girls want to prove more and they can.”
