BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
THE OBSERVER
AUBURN — Auburn High School’s volleyball season came to an end Oct. 27 with a 3-0 loss to Thompson High School in the quarterfinals of the AHSAA Class 6A state tournament.
The Lady Warriors won Set 1 25-16, Set 2 25-14 and Set 3 25-17 in the match, which was held at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
Thompson (31-9) went on to finish as the Class 6A state runner-up, falling 3-2 to Bob Jones High School (38-12) in the championship match on Oct. 28.
Kayleigh Kinser led the Lady Tigers (8-21) with a double-double of 10 kills and 10 digs, as well as an ace. Bentley Lassiter also contributed 11 digs and an ace. Thompson’s Maddy Henderson finished with 11 kills, 14 assists, six digs, two blocks and two aces.
Auburn head coach Ashley Parnell said she was proud of how her young team grew over the course of a demanding season.
“We were very young and inexperienced, and we played a really tough regular-season schedule. Even though we took some losses, they never quit, never gave up,” Parnell said. “They came in every day, worked hard and wanted to get better, and I think that those moments paid off for us in the postseason. Making it to the state tournament is not something to take for granted, so just really proud of them and how hard they worked every day.”
Auburn had already lost to Thompson once this season — a 3-0 loss in Alabaster on Oct. 1 — and knew what it was up against in the rematch.
“We had seen them once, and we knew that they were good and that they were going to be tough to beat, but I’m really proud of my kids. They competed hard, and they gave it their very best,” Parnell said. “At the end of the day, that’s all you can ask for as a coach. It’s not the outcome that we wanted, but I think it gave us great experience for years to come with the young team that I have.”
The Lady Tigers will lose three seniors — Jada Esters Annie Payne and Ryan Presley — whom Parnell credited with setting the tone for the program.
“They were awesome. We got great leadership from them all year long, but they’re even better people,” Parnell said. “They love the sport of volleyball, but even more than that, they love the team. We’re just going to build off of their leadership, and we’re going to miss them very much. They mean a lot to us.”
Parnell said the team’s biggest growth came from its freshmen. Auburn had four freshmen on the roster this season, and three of them started. The fourth missed the season with a torn ACL.
“Just seeing where they started back when we started practicing in June to now,” Parnell said. “They have grown so much, and they have bought in.”
With most of the roster returning, Parnell expects the Lady Tigers to come back next season with more confidence.
“That was something that we talked about all year, and it’s hard to have confidence when you’re young and playing teams that are older and bigger than you,” Parnell said. “I think they’ve learned that if we make a mistake, it’s not the end of the world. We’re going to move on to the next play, because volleyball is a game of mistakes.”
Parnell said her favorite moments of the season were the regional win over Dothan that clinched Auburn’s state tournament berth and the state tournament experience that followed.
“We had a great time with the team the night before. We went and ate dinner,” Parnell said. “They really enjoyed each other. I know sometimes it’s hard for teams to get along, but that was not the case with this group. They really just enjoyed being around one another, which made it enjoyable for us as coaches too.”
