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By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

BIRMINGHAM–The Pelham Panthers are heading to the AHSAA 6A State Championship game after pulling off a come-from-behind upset victory in the semifinals to defeat Daphne 3-1 on Wednesday, Nov. 1.

Pelham pulled off its second upset of the day as the 6A North No. 3 Seed. After defeating Brewer in a hard-fought five set match, the Panthers had no time to relax as they took on 6A South No. 1 seed Daphne in the semifinals.

After losing the opening set 16-25, Pelham rebounded to win the next three sets by a score of 25-21, 25-19 and 27-25 to punch a ticket to the championship game on Nov. 2.

“I don’t know what to say,” Pelham head coach Perry Robinson said. “We didn’t have a lot of information on them (Daphne) just watching them last week and not playing them in the super regionals. We knew they had the two really good attackers and their defense was absolutely phenomenal. I couldn’t say enough about both team’s defense.”

Robinson said the coaches reiterated to the team that anything can happen in the state tournament no matter the seedings.

“We’ve been talking about that with them for weeks,” Robinson said. “Anything, crazy stuff can happen. Emorie Long played in the finals as a freshman and she’s going to play in the finals as a senior. How cool is that?”

Long led Pelham with 15 kills and three aces. Jamila Wilson added 14 digs and Georgia Stonicher finished with 43 assists for the Panthers.

Pelham will take on Jasper in the AHSAA 6A State Championship game on Thursday, Nov. 2 at 9:45 a.m.

To view more photos, visit Shelbycountyphotos.com.

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