Bears find higher gear, sweep Cardinals in 3A North final
Oct. 16—GLEN — This Alcorn Central volleyball team might or might not go down as the best in program history. But coach Eric Lancaster was certain of one thing after his team swept Belmont 3-0 (25-22, 25-14, 25-15) in the Class 3A North final Monday night.
"That's the best match an Alcorn Central team has ever played since I've been here — and I'm the only one that's been here," Lancaster said.
The Daily Journal's top-ranked team will face Our Lady Academy at 5 p.m. Friday in the state championship. It's the Bears' third straight trip to the title game, having won it all in 2021 and losing last season.
An intense back-and-forth opening set ended when Stella Hollis and Emma Barnett had back-to-back blocks. Alcorn Central (31-5) then found another gear in Set 2.
Behind three service aces by Carlie Barnes, the Bears raced to a 10-1 lead. They had seven aces in that set and 13 total.
"I preached to them the last week-and-a-half, we've got to serve aggressive. Not many rainbows," Lancaster said. "We've got to keep them out of system, keep them out of rhythm. Because when Belmont's in rhythm, like they were in the first set, they're hard to handle."
As No. 4 Belmont (32-9) struggled to find its offensive flow, Alcorn Central saw several players finish points at the net. The Bears had 35 kills on the match, with Allie Kirkland and Mylee Davis notching nine apiece. Hollis had seven kills to go with 17 assists, while Branna Quinn had five kills and 16 helpers.
"I don't know what clicked in us, but we started hitting everything inbounds, scoring, finding the open spots," Kirkland said. "I'm very shocked we did that well; it was amazing."
Barnes, Kirkland and Quinn are the only Alcorn Central players with championship experience. Everyone else on the floor Monday played JV last year.
"It's crazy to see how well they've progressed in one season," Kirkland said. "I can't tell you how happy that makes me to see whenever I shoulder something, everybody comes in and steps up behind me, and everybody contributes and does such a great job."
Belmont fell behind early in the third set as well, 6-1, and a flurry of Central kills opened up a 16-6 gap.
Meredith Eaton led the Cardinals with eight kills, while Sadie Randolph had seven.
