BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
THE OBSERVER
AUBURN — Auburn High School locked up the regular season Class 6A Area 4 title and area tournament’s No. 1 seed with a resounding 3-0 home win over crosstown rivals Opelika High School on Sept. 15.
On an evening that celebrated their three seniors, the Lady Tigers (5-11, 3-0) defeated the Lady Bulldogs (7-5, 1-1) 25-12 in Set 1, 25-13 in Set 2 and 25-19 in Set 3.
According to Alabama High School Football Historical Society records, Auburn has won its area the last 24 years in a row.
Kayleigh Kisner had 14 kills and a 25.9% hitting percentage and Mackenzie Kurth tallied six kills, five aces and a 33.3% hitting percenntage for the Lady Tigers
Alaina Thomas finished with five kills and two aces for the Lady Bulldogs, while Londyn Gardner contributed four kills and Emma Voss tallied seven digs.
Auburn head coach Ashley Parnell said the match’s pivotal moment came roughly a third of the way into the third and final set when the Lady Tigers dug deep and began clawing their way back.
“It feels great and I’m super proud of my girls,” Parnell said. “It would have been really easy in that third set to let up a little bit, but they pushed through, and winning 3-0 and being the No. 1 seed in the area feels really good.”
Auburn’s senior night triumph was made all the sweeter by claiming a straight-sets win over their rivals according to Ryan Presley, who was honored alongside fellow seniors Rachel Deshazo and Jada Esters.
“This is our first time playing them this season, and it feels really good to have our second win at home,” Presley said.
While the Lady Bulldogs made things tough in the first two sets, they looked poised to force a fourth set after maintaining a lead toward the mathematical end of the third frame. However, a questionable call from a game official that drew an angry reaction from the traveling Opelika fans gave the Lady Tigers a much-needed momentum boost, which they immediately seized.
“It took a lot of mental toughness, and that’s what I said to them in one of the timeouts: we’ve got to push through and be mentally tough right here, and they took that, ran with it and came out with a win,” Parnell said.
On the court during that third and final set, Presley said she and her teammates rallied around each other to ensure they walked away with the win sooner rather than later.
“We really just told each other that we have to talk more and rely on each other more, and we just went out there and got it together and won,” Presley said.
Although Opelika head coach Robin Roberts conceded that single call did not mean much in the grand scheme of things, she still said it halted momentum at a time when her team was trying to fight its way back into striking distance.
“The girls never feel like they’re out of the game,” Roberts said. “We were definitely rolling a little bit better, and then we got a bad call. [The point we originally won] was overturned, and I think that was a momentum killer completely for that set. It doesn’t make up for the first and second set, but it definitely affected us.”
The gravity of securing the top seed in the area tournament was not lost on Parnell, who took over the program from former head coach Brian Wheatley in February. She said being the No. 1 seed comes with a range of potential playoff benefits.
“Everything you do in the postseason rides on that,” Parnell said. “We just want to put ourselves in the best position possible, and hopefully we’ll have a chance to do that in another month or so.”
With their tournament aspirations still very much alive, Roberts said the Lady Bulldogs would look to wrap up the No. 2 seed on the road against Central High School on Thursday, Sept. 24.
“We’ll know where we’re seeded pretty easily here soon to know. You just need to win one area tournament game to advance to regionals,” Roberts said. “That’s what it’s really about, so hopefully we get one win in the first round of the area, face Auburn again and maybe show up a little bit differently.”
