The Homewood High School Volleyball Team is moving to the postseason after winning their area tournament on Oct. 17. With an impressive regular season record and a fire to win, the Patriots are projected to make it far in the playoffs.
Head coach Grace Burgess is beyond happy with her first season at Homewood. She came from Oak Mountain this year to coach the Patriots and has enjoyed getting to know her players and watching them grow as a team.
“They are kind of learning now how I do things,” Burgess said. “They’ve bought in completely to my coaching style and to themselves, and it’s resulted in a lot of growth. We’ve had a lot of ups and downs throughout the year, but I think it’s all kind of been a learning curve. They believe in themselves now and believe that we can win, which is really special.”
With this progressive strength gained throughout the season, Burgess sees a high winning potential within the team. The Patriots also have a solid regionals draw to make it to the state tournament.
“I have us winning regionals,” Burgess said. “We’ve talked about it a bit, but not much. I’m just trying to keep them in the present and focus on one match at a time. But we have a really good route. We have not seen some of the teams that we will potentially play, but the first one out of the gate, Buckhorn, we played opening weekend. We know them, and we know how much we’ve grown from when we played them the first time. I think that’s giving us some confidence. So I’m just excited. I’m excited to see how the girls compete.”
Although the team has a good draw, they’ll still have to play to their potential in order to make it to state.
“They need to remember that they are capable and good enough even in these high-pressure situations,” Burgess said. “They are in the moment, but they almost get too in the moment that they lose a sense of where their feet are. So if they can take those emotions—excitement, anxiety, and nerves—and if they can center it, be grounded, and take it one point at a time, I think they’re going to be fine.”
Senior captain and middle blocker Cali Armstead is also confident in the team’s ability to make it far.
“We have a really good team dynamic, which makes everything easier,” Armstead said. “We’ve grown a lot since the beginning, so that’s been exciting to see. I feel like we’re ready for the postseason. There have been some injuries that have slowed us down a bit, but basically everyone is back now, so we’re feeling good.”
The actual location of the North Regionals is being moved this year from Huntsville to Birmingham, a change that can only benefit the Patriots.
“The Finley Center is more compact and loud than Huntsville is, which makes the environment more fun,” Armstead said. “In regard to fans and people coming, it’s definitely a lot easier of a drive, so more people can actually attend, so it will be better fan-wise. The environment might throw some other teams off, but for us, it’s kind of like a home-court advantage. We would love to have people come out and support!”
The regional tournament will begin on Wed., Oct. 23, at the Finley Center in Hoover. The Patriots’ first matchup will be against the Buckhorn Bucks at 9 a.m., and if won, they’ll face the winner of Southside and Pell City at 2 p.m.
