Lady Eagles Split Tri-Match to Open Season

The 2024 volleyball season opened on Thursday as Alabama Christian visited St James to take on the host Trojans and 7A Prattville. The Eagles defeated the Lions (25-20, 25-22) in two straight, but dropped the decision to the Lady Trojans (25-27, 15-25).

A’Kirra McElveen led the team 14 kills and eight digs on the day. Campbell Hammett had six kills and eight digs while Morgan Bond added five kills. Kaylee Rudolph had a team best 24 assists and two aces. Addison Smith tied for team high in digs with eight.

Volleyball and Cross Country Open Year in Athletics

The year in sports kicked off this week as the volleyball and cross country teams both participated in their first action of the year.

In volleyball, the Lady Eagles split a tri-match on Thursday at St James with a win over Tallassee before falling to the host school, St James. In game one, ACA overpowered Tallassee in two straight, 25-15, 25-5. The Eagles service game was in mid season form with 15 aces in the match. Morgan Bond and Josie Dye led the squad with four aces apiece. In the nightcap, the Lady Eagles dropped two in a row 11-25, 11-25. On the day, Taegan Scott had seven kills and three blocks while Morgan Bond had four aces, three kills and two blocks. Savannah Dorman finished with seven assists while Annabelle Pugh had six digs.

On Saturday, Kate Finch represented the varsity cross country program at the MA Cross Country Invitational in Grady. The senior runner dominated with a first place finish with a time of 20:17.84 in the girls division beating her closest competitor by more than 17 seconds. Abby Zenor and Avery Moore both finished in the Top 10 in the JV category to help ACA to a second place team finish.

Thornton Era Ends for ACA Volleyball

For the past seven years, if you came to an ACA volleyball match, Emily or Alyson Thornton was on the floor competing for the Eagles. Today, in a loss to St. Luke’s in the Super Regional, Alyson Thornton’s career came to a close at Alabama Christian. Other families like Ainsworth, Baker, Entrekin, Faulkner, Hatcher, and Traff have represented Alabama Christian in volleyball, but the Thornton’s will leave as the most decorated sibling duo in program history. Both Emily and Alyson rank in the Top 20 in school history in kills, aces, and assists. They join Carlie Ainsworth and Sarah Ford as the only players to be ranked on the career list in all three categories. This season, Alyson became just the second Lady Eagle to lead the team in kills and assists in the same season. The senior finished her career ranked second in aces, fifth in assists, and twelfth in kills all-time.

ACA Falls in Super Regionals

Alabama Christian had a tough draw in the 3A South Sub-Regionals as they faced the top ranked team in their classification, St. Luke’s. The Lady Eagles fell in three straight games, 11-25, 10-25, 19-25, to end the year. The season was highlighted by Amber Hogan’s first win as head coach against Tallassee, Alyson Thornton’s 1000th career assist against Providence Christian at the Mayor’s Cup, and qualifying for sub-regionals for the first time in four years with a win over Beulah in the Area tournament. As the team looks ahead to next year, there is much optimism with just two players leaving to graduation. 

This season’s statistical leaders were:

Kills – Alyson Thornton (166), Teagan Scott (146), Paige Henry (145)

Aces – Alyson Thornton (57), Savannah Dorman (41), Ava Oates (40)

Blocks – Teagan Scott (50), Jaide Newkirk (28), Erin Simmons (20)

Digs – Annabelle Pugh (160), Paige Henry (106), Ava Oates (103)

Assists – Alyson Thornton (387), Anna Prempramot (111), Savannah Dorman (31)

Alabama Christian Advances to Super Regionals with Runner-up Finish at Area Tournament

For the first time since 2018, the Lady Eagles will advance to the Super Regionals in postseason action. ACA defeated Beulah in three straight, 25-20, 25-11, 25-16, in the opener to clinch their spot in the next round. Senior Alyson Thornton sparked the team with twelve assists, eight kills and three aces. Taegan Scott matched Thornton with a team-high eight kills. Paige Henry led the team with six aces while Ava Oates added three aces. Annabelle Pugh led the team with twelve digs while Anna Prempramot had nine assists.

in the championship match, ACA faced host PCA and fell in three straight games. Alyson Thornton and Taegan Scott once led the attack with six and five kills, respectively. Anna Prempramot led the team with six assists while Jaide Newkirk had a team-high three blocks while Ava Oates finished with five digs. Alyson Thornton and Annabelle Pugh were named to the all-tournament team.

Alabama Christian next plays in the Super Regionals on Thursday, October 20, against the #1 ranked team in 3A, St. Luke’s.

Lady Eagles Sweep Dadeville in Area Play

Alabama Christian began and ended their week with Area victories over Dadeville and in between split a tri-match at home by defeating Brew Tech and falling to Catholic. ACA moved to 3-1 in the Area with a showdown looming with PCA next week for the top spot in the standings.

On Monday, the Eagles dominated Dadeville in three straight, 25-15, 25-3, 25-6. Alyson Thornton, Paige Henry and Taegan Scott each had four kills to lead the team. Eight different players recorded kills in the contest. Thornton also contributed seven aces and sixteen assists to lead the squad in both categories while Annabelle Pugh had a team-high eight digs.

ACA hosted a tri-match on Tuesday as they fell in two to Catholic, but bounced back to defeat Brew Tech, 25-18, 23-25, 15-11, in three to earn the split. Paige Henry led the team with eight kills followed by Elizabeth Belcher with seven while Alyson Thornton and Taegan Scott finished with six apiece. Once again, Thornton led the team in aces and assists with four and nineteen, respectively. Annabelle Pugh had eleven digs.

The week ended with the second defeat over Dadeville to sweep the season series. ACA prevailed 25-15, 25-7, 25-12. Elizabeth Belcher and Alyson Thornton sparked the attack with seven kills each. Four players, Anna Prempromat, Paige Henry, Sydney Jones and Erin Simmons, each produced three kills. Thornton’s seven aces led the squad while Henry and Tori Keller each had three. Prempromat led the team with 15 assists with Annabelle Pugh recording a team-high eight digs.

Alabama Christian Splits Area Games on the Week

ACA opened Area play on Tuesday as they hosted area-favorite, PCA. The Eagles fell 17-25, 13-25, 14-25 to the Lady Panthers. Taegan Scott led the team with five kills while Alyson Thornton and Elizabeth Belcher both had three kills. Savannah Dorman had two aces while Ava Oates finished with eight digs to lead the team. Thornton recorded ten assists.

The Lady Eagles bounced back to even their Area record to 1-1 on Thursday with a three-game sweep of Beulah, 25-10, 25-20, 25-17. Alyson Thornton led the squad with fourteen assists, twelve kills and three aces. Taegan Scott finished with seven kills while Paige Henry added six kills. Annabelle Pugh led the team with eight digs and Savannah Dorman added nine assists in the victory.

Alabama Christian will next compete in a tournament at Elmore County on Saturday.

ACA Week in Review - Lady Eagles beat Elmore County at MAC Attack Tournament

Alabama Chrsitian won one of four games on the week as the Eagles lost to MA during the week before beating Elmore County and losing to Briarwood and Central-Phenix City at the MAC Attack on Saturday. Against MA, Paige Henry led the squad with 10 kills and seven digs. Alyson Thornton finished with four kills and a team-high 15 assists.

At the MAC Attack tournament, Paige Henry again led the team with nine kills while Alyson Thornton had eight and Taegan Scott and Ella Weed both hads seven kills. Scott had a team-high five blocks followed by Thornton and Erin Simmons with four each. Savannah Dorman had three aces while Thornton had 28 assists.

ACA Week in Review - Thornton Milestone Highlights Busy Week in Volleyball

Senior Alyson Thornton became the eighth Lady Eagle to reach 1,000 career assists in program history. She reached the mark on Friday in the opening game of the Mayor’s Cup against Providence Christian. Alabama Christian won three of eight games played on the week. The week began with a loss to Trinity on Monday, but the team bounced back and split a tri-match at Catholic on Thursday by beating Carver and losing to the Lady Knights. Taegan Scott paced the offense in the trio of games with 12 kills and a team-high four blocks. Paige Henry added 10 kills while Anna Prempramot had two aces and Thornton finished with 37 assists.

ACA participated in the Mayor’s Cup over the weekend and finished 2-2 in pool play before being eliminated by Houston Academy in bracket play. The Eagles defeated Providence Christian 19-25, 25-13, 15-8 on Friday as Thornton reached the assist milestone. On Saturday, ACA defeated Prattville before losing to St Pauls, PCA and Houston Academy. Paige Henry finished with 26 kills, in the five games, to lead the squad while Taegan Scott had 20 kills and a team-leading 14 blocks. Alyson Thornton led the team with 66 assists and added 17 kills and seven aces. Anna Prempramot led the team with eight aces while Ava Oates had six and Annabelle Pugh had five.

Cross Country

The 2022 cross country season opened Saturday at the MA Cross Country Invitational in Grady. Kate Finch carried the torch as the only girl’s varsity runner as she finished third out of eight-five runners with a time of 21:32.65. Four other runners participated in the JV race.

Lady Eagles Split Season Opening Tri-Match in Coach Amber Hogan's Debut

Alabama Christian opened the season with a win and a loss as Amber Hogan began her tenure leading the volleyball prgram. ACA defeated Tallassee handily in two straight, 25-20, 25-9 in the first match of the year. The Eagles closed out the night in a tightly contested loss as St James won the third and deciding game, 17-15.

Taegan Scott led the attack with 15 kills, two blocks and an ace. Elizabeth Belcher and Paige Henry each had 13 kills while Ella Weed finished with 11 kills and a team-high four blocks. Alyson Thornton led the team with 43 asisists and seven aces. ACA’s next contest is against Trinity on Monday, August 22nd.

ACA Goes 1-1 on the Week

After a busy weekend at the Mayor’s Cup tournament, ACA played host this week to Carver and MA on Tuesday and Thursday. The two opponents are on the opposite ends of the volleyball world as Carver tried to set a record for most double hits called against in a match while MA is a perennial contender.

ACA handled Carver easily in three straight games 25-10, 25-6, 25-7. The service game produced 24 aces led by Alyson Thornton’s eight and Paige Henry’s seven winners. After starting a little slow in game one, the Lady Eagles dominated the match. Claire Forrester finished with five kills to lead the team while a trio of players, Paige Henry, Leighton Peake and Cayla Schofield, each had four kills. Alyson Thornton had 19 assists in the three games.

Ella Weed goes for the block at the net.

Alabama Christian fell to MA in the first Area game of the season in three games, 12-25, 10-25, 21-25. The pattern for the match had MA jump out to a lead early in the games, ACA would make a run to get close and MA would finish each game strong. In game one, Lynleigh Stephen had a nice service run to cut the lead to 10-13, but MA scored the last nine points of the game for the game one win. In game two, Paige Henry ran off consecutive points for the Eagles to make the score 7-9. Once again, MA responded scoring eight of the next nine points and went on to the 10-25 victory. The most competitive game was the last as Eagle runs caused MA to call timeout twice and the game was tied 21-21 late, but MA scored the last four points to complete the sweep. Claire Forrester led the attack with five kills and an ace. Paige Henry had four kills and a team high three aces while Cayla Schofield added four kills. Alyson Thornton and Ella Weed each had three blocks while Thornton led the squad with 15 assists.

ACA Splits Four Games in Early Week Action

Alabama Christian split two tri-matches on Monday and Tuesday to move to 3-2 on the season. On Monday, the Eagles beat Tallassee in two games, 25-23, 25-8, but lost to the host school St James, 23-25, 15-25. In the victory over the Tigers, Claire Forrester and Paige Henry each had six kills and an ace to lead the offense. Forrester also had the team’s only block and led the squad with five digs. Alyson Thornton led the team with 15 assists and six aces. Forrester continued her good play against St James with 10 kills in the two-game defeat. Leighton Peake and Henry each had two aces and Thornton added 15 assists.

The Lady Eagles visited Pike Road on Tuesday and beat Lanier easily 25-7, 25-12 before falling to Pike Road in three games 21-25, 25-20, 9-15. Paige Henry became just the third player in school history to have at least ten aces in a game with ten against Lanier. Claire Forrester and Leighton Peake each had four kills while Alyson Thornton finished with 14 assists. Against Pike Road, Thornton led the team with 17 assists and two aces. Henry led the attack with eight kills followed closely by Forrester with seven.

ACA will next compete in the Mayor’s Cup this weekend at the Cramton Bowl Complex.

Lady Eagles Win Season Opener in a Five Game Thriller

Alabama Christian opened the season Thursday night with a home triumph over PCA, 26-24, 25-19, 21-25, 7-25, 15-12. The Eagles took the first two games of the match and looked to be in control as the Panthers won games three and four to tie it up. ACA responded and won the decisive fifth game to close out the match. Coach Manuel Guice was pleased with the team’s defensive effort on the evening.

Claire Forrester and Paige Henry combined for 25 kills, 13 and 12 respectively, to lead the offensive attack and were praised by Coach Guice for sparking the team. Alyson Thornton and Ella Weed each had four kills while Thornton led the team with 28 assists and Weed had two blocks. Leighton Peake led the team with five aces.

Alabama Christian Loses to PCA in Regular Season Finale

The Lady Eagles played their third home game of the week as they hosted PCA in the final game of the regular season Thursday night. ACA lost to the Lady Panthers in three straight games 12-25, 21-25, 9-25. Despite the sweep, the match went back and forth as neither team was able to make a long run on their service game. The longest run of the night was just four points for either side. The Lady Panthers won Game one easily, but ACA came back in Game two and played their best game of the match. Besides taking a 1-0 lead, the Eagles trailed the whole game, but cut the lead to two points at 21-23. A service error stopped the rally and PCA won 21-25. PCA jumped out to a 3-15 lead early in Game three and breezed to the 9-25 win to sweep the match.

Claire Forrester led the ACA attack with seven kills while Jordan Smithee added four kills. Michaelyn Manning had 14 assists with four kills and two aces. The Lady Eagles next play in the Area Tournament on Wednesday.

Where Are They Now? - Sarah Ford

Looking back ten years to the 2010 volleyball team, we caught up with Sarah Ford to talk about her time at Alabama Christian and what she is doing these days. The 2010 team finished 24-16 and advanced to the Elite Eight in the state playoffs. As a junior, Sarah led the team in aces and assists for the season and was second in kills. She also finished her career with the most aces in school history and ranks third all time in assists.

What year did you graduate from Alabama Christian? 2012

 What grades did you attend at Alabama Christian? 10th-12th

 What is your favorite memory of Alabama Christian? I don’t remember what the occasion was, but Mr. (Paul) Fisher was wearing an ostrich costume. It made it look like he was riding the ostrich. It was hilarious and he kept acting like the ostrich was trying to attack people. 

 What is your favorite volleyball memory? Probably my senior year (2011), we won a ton of tournaments and we were all really close.

 Who took you under their wing when you joined the varsity team? Bridget Barker was awesome! She was so nice to me and tried to include me on a lot of things.

 Who was your most memorable teammate? Shelby Traff, not only was she a great player, but she was always doing something funny/crazy. She’d wear her hair in pigtails or be trying to learn a new dance. Never a dull moment with her. 

 What teacher/coach had the most influence on you? That one is easy, Coach (Manuel) Guice. My first year we sort of butted heads, but after that we got really close. He was someone I constantly went to for advice and help, not just in volleyball situations. We still keep in touch! 

 Did you continue playing volleyball after high school? I did! I played at Faulkner for 4 years.

 Where do you currently live? Jackson, Mississippi 

 What do you do for a living? I’m the assistant volleyball coach at Millsaps College, a NCAA Division 3 school.

Rapid Fire

Favorite Food: Shrimp tacos

Pet Peeve: Tags sticking out of people’s shirts

Person I'd most like to meet: Karch Kiraly or Kerri Walsh Jennings

Ride or Drive: Ride

Alabama or Auburn (or other): Neither. I’m a weirdo Tennessee fan. Thanks dad!

ACA Beats Elmore County for Second Win of the Season

Despite enduring a tough season, the Lady Eagles played with a lot of effort Monday night in a victory over Elmore County. Alabama Christian dropped the first game of the match, but rebounded and won the next three to take the contest in four, 11-25, 25-17, 25-12, 25-20. The Eagles started slow and were behind as much as 4-20 at one point in the first game before losing 11-25. In Game two, Anna Prempramot started with three straight points on her serve to give the Lady Eagles the early lead. ACA stretched the lead very slowly through the rest of the game scoring no more than three points on any serve the rest of the way. Lynleigh Stephen helped Alabama Christian gain control of Game three as the Lady Eagles ran off eight straight points on her serve to take a 15-4 lead. The Panthers could never close the gap and would lose the game 25-12. in the final game of the match, Prempramot served ACA to an early 4-0 lead and the Eagles built a 14-6 lead, but could not put the Panthers away. Elmore County would get as close as 21-19, but the Eagles were able to hold them off and win the game 25-20.

Lynleigh Stephen serves against Elmore County.

Claire Forrester led the ACA attack with ten kills and Cayla Schofield added nine kills with two blocks. Jordan Smithee had seven kills and four aces while Leighton Peake had four aces and three kills. Anna Prempramot had a team high 28 assists and did a great job tracking down errant passes from the back row to set up the hitters. The freshman also delivered three kills and three aces.

Alabama Christian will continue to play at home tomorrow night in an Area game against LAMP.

Lady Eagles Beaten by MA in Three Straight

Alabama Christian hosted MA Tuesday night in an Area contest. The Lady Eagles were over matched and fell in three straight games, 6-25, 12-25, 8-25. MA was able to jump out to insurmountable leads in each of the three games and never allowed the Eagles to string together points or gain any momentum. Claire Forrester led the offensive attack with six kills while Jordan Smithee had two kills. Cayla Schofield had two blocks and one kill. Michealyn Manning had nine assists on the night.

The Lady Eagles next play Elmore County next Monday, October 5th.

ACA Beats Tallassee in Three Straight

The Lady Eagles were looking for their first win of the season Monday night as they hosted Tallassee. ACA defeated the Lady Tigers 25-10, 25-14, 25-21 in a dominating performance. The Eagles started fast as they scored eight straight points on Michaelyn Manning’s serve for an early 9-0 lead. Two servers later, Alabama Christian ran off nine consecutive points on Haley Cassidy’s serve for a 21-4 lead and went on to win the first game 25-10.

Haley Cassidy gets ready to serve against Tallassee.

ACA was a little flat to begin Game two and the games was tied 9-9 midway through the game. Like Game one, the Lady Eagles received a boost from Michaelyn Manning’s serve game with six consecutive points for a 15-9 edge. Alabama Christian continued to pull away and won easily, 25-14. Tallassee gave ACA all it could handle in Game three as they returned kill attempt after kill attempt and remained even throughout the game. Neither team led by more than three points in the game until Leighton Peake finished the match with a kill and a 25-21 win to complete the sweep.

Michaelyn Manning sets up a teammate for the kill.

Michaelyn Manning led the team with a season high 20 assists along with six aces and four kills. Lynleigh Stephen’s eight aces on the night tied for third most in a match in program history and added three digs. Claire Forrester and Leighton Peake each had six kills while Ashlyn Harris added three kills and three assists.

ACA (1-8) will host Prattville in their next contest on Thursday night on Senior Night.

Lady Eagles Fall to LAMP in an Area Matchup

ACA traveled across town Thursday night to play LAMP in an Area tilt. The Eagles were closer to full strength and played a tough match against the Golden Tigers before falling in three straight games, 16-25, 21-25, 21-25. After Alabama Christian scored the first point of the match, Lamp ran off nine straight points for an early 9-1 lead. ACA closed the gap to 15-19 late in the match when they scored five consecutive points while Lynleigh Stephen served. LAMP responded as they won six of the last seven points in the game for a 25-16 victory.

Leighton Peake on the attack against LAMP.

In Game two, the Lady Eagles started quickly and gained a 7-1 advantage as they scored five of their seven points on the serve of Stephen. The Golden Tigers again responded with a 10-4 run to take a 12-11 lead. The game remained close to the end, but LAMP prevailed 25-21. LAMP scored the first six points of Game three and it looked like the air had been taken out of the Eagle attack. However, ACA fought back and took a 12-11 lead midway through the game. Haley Cassidy provided a spark with five straight points on her serve during the run. The game was tied 21-21 very late, but LAMP tallied the last four points to clinch the match.

Jordan Smithee led the Eagles in kills against LAMP.

Jordan Smithee led the offense with 13 kills while Leighton Peake added three kills. Ashlyn Harris contributed two kills, two assists and an ace. Michaelyn Manning led the squad with 17 assists and added two kills. Lynleigh Stephen led the team with three aces. Alabama Christian (0-8) will take on Prattville next Thursday at home in its next contest.

ACA Continues to Struggle Early in Season

The Alabama Christian volleyball team continued to feel the affects of a short-handed roster as they lost Tuesday afternoon to Trinity and Brew Tech in a tri-match at Trinity. Illness and injury have wreaked havoc on the Lady Eagles over the past ten days. ACA lost to Brew Tech 10-25, 19-25 and fell to the Wildcats in two straight games.

Cayla Schofield led the Eagle attack on the afternoon with nine kills and one block. Leighton Peake had six kills with an ace and Riley Barrow added three kills. Anna Prempramot had four assists to lead the squad. ACA (0-7) will next play at LAMP in an Area contest Thursday.