Cavs defy odds, appear in state tournament
BIRMINGHAM – Not many expected to see the John Carroll Catholic High School volleyball team as one of the final eight standing in Class 6A.
But there the Cavaliers were, playing in the state quarterfinals on Tuesday morning at the Birmingham CrossPlex. They fell to Mountain Brook in straight sets (25-14, 25-16, 25-17), but head coach Michael Heard had a message for his team following the conclusion of its season.
“The one thing I told them is no matter what, your chin better be up as high as it can be,” the first-year coach said.
John Carroll (22-21) accomplished a great deal in Heard’s first season. The Cavs had not been to the state tournament since 2015, making the experience a first for everyone on this season’s team.
“It was awesome,” Heard said. “None of my kids have ever been as players. They were so excited. For my seniors, it’s a moment they’ll never forget. From a program standpoint, the fact that our underclassmen got to experience state is a huge, huge step forward in the development of the program.”
The Spartans, the defending Class 7A champion, were too much for the Cavs on Tuesday. It was the fourth time this season the teams have met.
“When you play a dynamic team like Mountain Brook, every time you play them they’ll show you a new type of wrinkle. Conversely, they’ve seen everything that we can do. We just ran out of rabbits out of hat basically,” Heard said.
John Carroll’s road to the state tournament was anything but easy once the postseason began. The Cavs rolled through Class 6A, Area 8 play, winning all eight matches without dropping a set. They hosted and won the area tournament in early October to head into the sub-regional round with a 19-19 overall record.
On Oct. 16, John Carroll hosted Gulf Shores in the 6A sub-regional round and pulled out a five-set victory (25-13, 21-25, 25-18, 26-28, 15-10). The following week at super regionals in Montgomery, the Cavs gutted out another five-set win over Wetumpka (25-18, 25-12, 22-25, 23-25, 15-13) to lock up a spot in the state tournament.
Not satisfied with merely making the state tournament, John Carroll knocked off Northridge in the super regional semifinals (25-19, 25-14, 19-25, 25-14). To cap off that day, the Cavs fell to Spanish Fort in four sets (25-21, 21-25, 25-20, 25-17) to finish as the No. 2 seed from the South.
“A lot of adversity that day, but they found a way,” Heard said. “I learned so much about so many of my kids that day.”
Heard is a graduate of John Carroll himself and admits his first team will hold a special place in his heart. Seniors Riley Kelner, Erin Jenkins, Zoey Williams, Amelia Ragusa and Michele McCaw helped lay the foundation for the Cavs’ program under Heard.
“It’s a special group. I’m going to miss this group. We’ll have a special group next year, but nothing like that first foundational group,” he said.
John Carroll may have exceeded in expectations in year one, but Heard hopes to make the Cavs a regular participant at the state tournament once again.
“I’m proud of the way our kids played. To get there was a huge accomplishment,” he said.