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PAGE 7 November 2026 E-Edition
AHSAA 2026 STATE VOLLEYBALL RESULTS "To the guys that were here since Day one, my heart hurts for them that it's over. The JUCO experience is a short one," Shanklin said. "Those that pioneered the program and now ultimately finish their time with us, I have full faith will go on to do big things in whatever avenue they pursue. They are better equipped, more mature and welcome the discipline, and they are ready for whatever life throws their way. I am excited to see what the future holds for them." NACC also got four steals and three aerial duel wins from Marcos Francisco. There were two steals, six tackles and 11 aerial duel wins from Gael Rocha-Ramirez, and one tackle and seven aerial duel wins from Sebastian Cruz. Aaron Herrera contributed five steals, two tackles and one aerial duel win. Jose Arreguin added one tackle and two aerial duel wins. Zakorien Shack had two aerial duel wins. Rafa Juarez Bautista had one aerial duel win, while Cameron Wood and Watts England had one steal and one aerial duel win each. The loss ended the second season in program history for NACC (5-10-4, 3-3-2 in conference play), which was making its first ACCC Tournament/National Junior College Athletic Association Region 22 Tournament appearance after playing its inaugural men's soccer season in 2025. "We faced our fair share of adversity this season, but we adapted and overcame the majority of it," Shanklin said. "I will remember this season as a big step forward in growth. Not only for the players — we had a good group of freshmen step up and a group of sophomores that helped and led internally — I also grew as a coach from navigating recruiting more efficiently and effectively. I asked the team prior to our final regular-season game to reflect on where they were as players when they first came into the program versus where they were now, and every last one of them replied that they were much further along and had grown tremendously, not just as players, but also in maturity." The match was the final one in a NACC uniform for a group of sophomores that were "program pioneers" for Northeast Soccer. NACC's 12 sophomores were Eddy Ortiz, Marcos Francisco, Jackson Greene, Larry Naovareth, Amin Cruz, Aaron Herrera, Bladimir Cervantes, Jose Arreguin, John Peters, Junior Duarte, Dennis Martinez Escobar and Erick Huerta. The Northeast Alabama Community College men's soccer program's season ended in heartbreaking fashion despite a stellar performance. The third-seeded Mustangs fell to second-seeded Calhoun 1-0 in a second sudden-death overtime period during the 2026 Alabama Community College Conference Tournament semifinals at the Jack Allen Soccer Complex. Calhoun scored the golden goal with 7:27 remaining in the second overtime period. "As a coach, you get upset when you lose and it's because of errors, sloppy effort, lack of intensity or lack of focus. But there is nothing that I can be upset about as far as our team's performance," said NACC head coach Tom Shanklin. "They stepped on the pitch and gave it everything they had. We just came up short. Not being able to finish early in the game with multiple opportunities wound up costing us in the end. The guys never gave up. They fought well, they leaned on each other and I couldn't be prouder of their performance. Losing hurts, but in a very competitive conference, we handled our business well and the entire team should hold their head high with their performances this season." NACC goalkeeper Thomas Rossiter finished with four saves while Bladimir Cervantes recorded five steals, four tackles and 13 aerial duel wins. John Peters totaled seven steals, five tackles and seven aerial duel wins. Acson Aristhene tallied six steals, three tackles and three aerial duel wins and Aidan McKinley posted six steals, one tackle and five aerial duel wins. NACC Soccer Concludes Season The following teams won the 2026 AHSAA State Volleyball Championship. Single A: Montgomery Academy Double AA: McGill-Toolen
Photo by Brandon K. Pierce, The Sports Ledger STATE CHAMPIONS - Guntersville's Ella Tate Camp (#10) gets the ball just over the net during the Wildcats match against Alexandria in the 2026 North Regional in Hoover. Guntersville won the game to advance to the 2026 AHSAA State Tournament. The Lady Wildcats opened the Class 4A State Tournament by defeating Headland 3-0 and West Point 3-0. Guntersville faced and defeated Orange Beach 3-0 in the Championship game to win this year's state crown.
Photo by Brandon K. Pierce, The Sports Ledger
AHSAA STATE VOLLEYBALL - Fyffe Senior Shelby Sisk (#11) makes a play for the Red Devils during the 2026 North Regional in Hoover. Fyffe defeated Pleasant Valley to advance to the Class 2A State Volleyball Tournament. The Red Devils opened the tournament with a 3-0 win over Lamar County, but fell to G.W. Long in the semifinals 3-1. In Class 3A, Plainview fell to Central Florence 3-2 in the 2026 Championship Game.
Class 1A: Addison Class 2A: GW Long Class 3A: Central Florence Class 4A: Guntersville Class 5A: Spanish Fort Class 6A: Bob Jones
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