Big school athletics has nothing over the smaller schools in Texas. Throw two class 2A volleyball teams together in late October, tell them they are playing for playoff seeding, and lock the gym doors. 

The results are often simply thrilling. So it was in Alba-Golden Monday night. The Lady Panthers hosted the North Hopkins Lady Panthers to determine playoff seeding. 

Although the doors were not locked, the end result was an excellent demonstration of the power of sports. 

Alba-Golden was bested by North Hopkins (25-18, 25-17, 19-25, 21-25, 13-15). The match seemed to hang forever a point or two from Alba-Golden’s reach. They were frustratingly close to a solid victory.

The loss sends the Lady Panthers to Union Grove Thursday to take on James Bowie High School in the first round of the playoffs. This is likely a tougher challenge to face than had they defeated North Hopkins. 

The key point here however is the word “playoffs.” The Lady Panthers have turned their program around. Although the win over North Hopkins eluded them, the team demonstrated all the attributes of a well-established team that is moving forward. 

For exactly half the match – games one and two and the first 12 points of game three – everything was going Alba-Golden’s way: the offense was clicking, the defense was anticipating everything, and the team was moving and communicating. Every drop of the ball seemed to fall in the home team’s favor. 

Cacie Lennon, Autumn Whitten and Kalli Wright delivered blistering kill shots, while the backcourt made a series of excellent digs. 

The production continued in game two. The last five points of game two were a Whitten kill, an Abby Hallman ace, an Amanda Stewart kill and two Lennon kills. The Lady Panthers had arrived.

Game three opened in the same manner. The solid play continued with no let-down. North Hopkins began to fight back, however, and evened the score at 12. 

At that moment, there was some type of transference. In a flash, all the positive attributes of Alba-Golden’s match seemingly transferred to North Hopkins. It was a complete reversal of fortunes. 

The home side continued to play with confidence, but North Hopkins suddenly found its offense and the ball began to bounce in their favor.

The trend continued for a close game four and the tie-breaker.

Regardless, the quality of play from Coach Webster’s team was significantly improved over the start of the season and light years ahead of last year’s product.