Bucs volleyball falls in quarterfinals
BIRMINGHAM – The end result wasn’t what the Hoover High School volleyball team hoped for, but the Buccaneers' final match of the season epitomized what they were about.
Hoover fell to Enterprise in a thrilling five-set match (25-23, 22-25, 25-27, 25-22, 15-12) in the opening round of the Class 7A tournament Wednesday afternoon at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
All five sets of the match were played within three points.
“I could not be more proud of them,” first-year Hoover head coach Amanda Wood said. “I’ve never had a group that has worked so relentlessly and never gave up. I would give anything to have one more round with that group.”
Hoover took two of the first three sets in the quarterfinal match, but Enterprise rallied back to take the fourth and looked poised to run away with the fifth. But the Bucs refused to wilt, turning a 7-3 deficit around and even taking the lead for a few points.
Wood was not surprised at her team’s resilience.
“I’m not ever really too concerned with a fifth set,” she said. “After being down 9-3 versus Vestavia in an area match, we can come back from anything. That was a huge thing to understand, that they can do hard things.”
In the match, Raegan James led the Hoover attack with 15 kills and 17 digs. Setter Maggie Harris notched 50 assists, while libero Bella Guenster racked up 50 digs. Adair Byars had 12 kills and 6 digs, while Alanah Pooler tallied 8 kills and 4 blocks.
All five of those players are seniors. The Bucs have nine on the roster, with Peyton David, Lauren Ware, Elise Hart and Reese Hawks all concluding their Hoover careers this season.
After being led for years by the dominance of Rya McKinnon, this year's seniors were tasked with learning how to step up and lead as a unit. Once they did that, Wood said things came together masterfully.
“We spent the beginning of the season trying to figure out who was going to step up into that role,” she said. “Our turn in the season was when they realized it didn’t have to be one person, that we could all step forward and be that person. They showed a lot of grit today.”
Hoover advanced to the state tournament by finishing second in the 7A North Regional tournament last week in Huntsville.
The Bucs finished the season with a 35-17 record in Wood’s first season at the helm.
“I’ve never worked so much in my life and I’ve never had more fun. It’s going to be a tough one to replace,” she said.