BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
THE LAFAYETTE SUN
LAFAYETTE — Chambers Academy senior Cate Allen has been named to the Alabama Independent School Association’s Class AA all-tournament volleyball team, capping a season in which the Lady Rebels reached the state final four.
Allen also played in the AISA all-star game on Oct. 24 at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery. The game featured only seniors, something Allen said beforehand she was looking forward to. Chambers head coach David Howard joined her there as an assistant coach for the all-star team.
“I’m really excited about it. It’s a great opportunity because it’s all seniors, and I feel like there’s going to be a high level of play,” Allen said two days before the game was played.
Allen said the recognition means a lot after a strong final year for Chambers, which went 26-6 and finished third in the state after a 3-0 semifinal loss to eventual Class AA champion Southern Academy.
“It was a great season this year. It’s a great team that I play with,” Allen said. “I’m really excited to play [in the all-star game] and can hopefully play at the next level.”
While Allen does not currently have an athletic scholarship offer to play college volleyball, she said she is looking at her options.
Howard said Allen earned the honor in part through her willingness to play wherever the team needed her. She opened the season as the Lady Rebels’ setter before moving to middle hitter.
“She’s a versatile player,” Howard said. “What makes Cate, in my mind, the all-star is that she can play anywhere you ask her to play on the court, and she’ll go there and she’ll do whatever is best for the team.”
As the team’s lone senior, Allen also set the tone emotionally, Howard said.
“Cate’s a leader. When she’s high energy and when she’s fighting, everybody follows along and fights with her,” Howard said. “She kind of controlled the temperature for our team. Anytime we got down, all I had to do was talk to Cate and say, ‘You’ve got to pull your team through, encourage your team.’ She’d turn around and go out there and do it, and everybody would follow suit.”
“That’s not anything they can learn,” Howard added. “It’s just a natural gift, and we were blessed to have that leadership.”
Allen has played volleyball at Chambers for years, and she said the lessons she’s taken from the program reach well beyond the court.
“It taught me a lot of life skills, being in a sport and being on a team,” Allen said. “My coaches have taught me so many life lessons that I’ll never forget. It’s not really just about sports, but the people you meet.”
She added that leaving her teammates will be the hardest part.
“I’m going to miss my teammates so much whenever I leave here,” Allen said. “I’m going to come back and watch them.”
When asked to pick a favorite moment from the season, Allen pointed to the comeback that sent Chambers to the final four. After dropping the first two sets of the best-of-five quarterfinal match against Clarke Preparatory School, the Lady Rebels rallied to win the next three.
“That was just a great moment,” Allen said. “After we won the last game and made it to the final four, they just ran on the court and knocked us all over, hugging us.”
Howard picked the same match as his favorite moment from Allen’s senior season. Playing in her new spot at middle hitter, she scored the final points to clinch the win over Clarke Prep.
“She really got aggressive and really hit some balls hard,” Howard said. “To see the confidence on her face, knowing that she had really stepped into that spot — not just filled a spot that needed filling, but excelled in it. Just to see the look and the smile on her face was priceless.”
However, not every memory came from a big match. Allen recalled a lighter day at practice late in the season when Howard covered the net with a black tarp and the team played “blind volleyball” as a fun way to break up the monotony of practice.
“Just funny stuff like that I’ll probably remember for the rest of my life,” Allen said.
Allen thanked those around her, including Howard, who took over as head coach this season after spending years as an assistant in the program.
“Thank you to Mr. David for stepping up and being our coach this year, and to all the underclassmen who made me feel really special being the only senior,” Allen said.
