Sabourin led area with 833 assists to lead Branford to another state runner-up finish; plus 7 more named to all-area team
BRANFORD — Andi Sabourin didn’t think much of it at the time. But the Buccaneers’ senior setter was having the match of her career.
Going up against defending champion Baker in the state semifinals, Sabourin left no room to doubt her status as perhaps the best setter in team history. After going up two sets to one, the Gators pulled ahead in the fourth, forcing a winner-take-all fifth set.
The huddle near the Branford bench exuded nervous energy. But Sabourin came into that day at Polk State College with something to prove. Having lost to Baker the year before in the championship game, Sabourin said that wasn’t an option this go-around.
“It really hurt (in 2023) when we lost to Baker,” Sabourin said. “I think we really came into the game thinking that we weren’t going to lose to them. And even if we did, we were going to play our hardest and make sure that we played our game.”
That’s the kind of mentality head coach Mendy Sikes looked for when she named her game captain for the season in Sabourin. It also has a great deal to do with Sabourin being named this season’s Lake City Reporter Volleyball Player of the Year.
The other part of her award comes from the video-game numbers she put up. Sabourin wound up notching a career-high 46 assists to help her team pull off the win in the state semifinals. She’d set a season high a week prior in the regional finals against Union County with 45 for the right to advance to the state semis.
Her 8.5 assists per set was an area best, and her 833 assists for the season was ranked No. 6 in the entire state, according to Maxpreps, and No. 1 in Class Rural. She also posted the second-most digs on her team with 305, was third on her team with 40 aces and fourth for the Bucs with 23 blocks.
All from a 5-foot-4 setter who, in Sabourin’s own opinion, is a bit short to play the position.
“I am an undersized player, so for me, it was really hard to make the adjustments I needed to make as fast as I needed to,” Sabourin said.
Such was the disadvantage that the possibility of playing volleyball nearly didn’t occur to Sabourin until middle school. Her friends had tried to convince her to play as a sixth-grader. Instead, she first tried her hand at cheerleading, which led to a little more clarity.
“I hated it,” Sabourin said of cheer. “So I was kind of like, ‘I’ll give volleyball a try.’ I’m the type of person that when I do something that I don’t want to do, I don’t want to be mediocre. If I’m going to do something, I want to be the best at it. So that was kind of my thing. I quit playing all other sports when I got into eighth grade. Eighth grade is when I really started to put my foot down and focus strictly on volleyball, because I fell in love with the game, and I fell in love with the program that we have.”
As far as naming her a captain goes, Sikes said she needed someone with as much knowledge of the game as possible to be her voice on the court. Sabourin filled that role to a T.
“They’re the ones that are going to have to be arguing with the refs,” Sikes said in choosing Sabourin. “She definitely is the most knowledgeable of the game for me in choosing her for that role.”
The title didn’t come without its challenges. Sabourin said during the heart of the regular season, she began experiencing self doubt, not just on the court but off as well.
“I think I was really struggling mentally with everything outside of volleyball as well, not just within volleyball,” she said. “I think that for me, it was more so not only taking care of what was going on in volleyball, you also have to take care of yourself outside of volleyball because your life isn’t just based on how you play as an athlete. It’s everything going on. I think that was really important for me to prioritize my mental health outside of volleyball, and that was something that I really struggled with.
“Coach Sikes, she’s a great outlet, and she helped me throughout everything. I think that she was such an important aspect of my growth, not only as a player, but as a person as well.”
That growth in the coach-player relationship went both ways. Sikes said Sabourin challenged her as well, helping Sikes become more accountable throughout her four years with the Bucs.
“She’s one of those players that made me want to be a better coach,” Sikes said. “I wanted her to succeed, and I think she wanted to put in as much time because she wanted me to be successful also.
“There were times that she would ask to go to the gym when there wouldn’t be anybody else there, just for her to work individually. Being a mother of four, I didn’t always necessarily want to do that, and she would remind me often of what our goal was and wanted to make it happen.”
That goal was returning to the state championship. With the Bucs’ five-set win over Baker, they accomplished just that.
But the fairy tale ending will have to wait, for Sabourin, for Sikes, and for the Branford community. Liberty County swept the Bucs two days later in the state championship match. Sabourin and the Bucs forced a pair of tiebreakers in the second and third sets, but the Bulldogs had the answers needed to pull away with a 25-20, 26-24, 26-24 win. It left Sabourin with a sour taste in her mouth, one she still feels to this day.
“I think it was just a lot of stress, a lot of tension,” Sabourin said entering that match. “I wasn’t playing as confident, and I think that in turn, it affected everyone else, and it’s something that I regret. I think about it every day.
“But you weren’t going to play another game after that anyway, so you can’t be mad. You made it the furthest that you could go at that level. I think that for me, it was just the entire day kind of felt off… It’s no one else’s fault.”
The failure of the state championship game — let alone twice in two years — has a tendency to do that, even to the most hardened of players. However, Sikes knows that Sabourin is more than those losses.
“(She’s) not like anything like what you would think from watching her play,” Sikes said of Sabourin’s reputation as an intimidating player. “She’s very to herself. The confidence is not as strong, obviously, off the court as it is on the court. But she’s clearly a special, amazing young lady.”
The on-court confidence should bode well for Sabourin at the next level. She said she’s exploring her options currently for a junior college route, with the hopes of transferring to a DI NCAA roster in the future.
Whichever school ends up getting her on the roster, Sabourin said they’re going to get someone who has studied the game intensely for years.
“I feel like I’m very knowledgeable of the game of volleyball,” Sabourin said. “I watch a lot of film, I watch a lot of everyone else’s film, especially professional volleyball, learning from those setters, I think, is also important.
“It obviously does suck being undersized, but I feel like I’ve had to overcompensate in other ways, which I think ultimately helped me be a better player.”
ALL-AREA TEAM
S: Andi Sabourin
Branford, senior
The LCR’s Volleyball Player of the Year led the area with 833 assists for the Class Rural runner-up Buccaneers and was second on the team with 305 digs. She also was third on the team with 40 aces and chipped in with 23 blocks, good enough for fourth on BHS.
L: Erika Rioux
Branford, senior
Led the area with 399 digs and served up a team-high 44 aces. She also set up teammates with 70 assists.
OH/MB: Madison Ward
Branford, senior
Led the Buccaneers with 237 kills and was second on the team with 44 blocks.
OH/DS: Lalyn Sikes
Branford, 7th grade
Did some of everything for the Buccaneers, finishing second on the team with 202 kills and 322 digs. She was also served up 39 aces and had 17 blocks.
MB: Addison Folsom
Branford, senior
Was by far the top blocker in the area, finishing with an area-best 85 blocks to go along with 200 kills.
OH/MH: Sinei Wood
Columbia, junior
Led the Tigers with 233 kills and was second on the team with 326 digs. She also served up 31 aces and had 23 blocks.
OPP/OH: Jordyn Chandler
Suwannee, sophomore
Did it all to help the Bulldogs win their first district title since 2016. She led the area with 247 kills and 72 aces while also posting a team-high 257 digs.
OH: Brooke Lamb
Lafayette, junior
Led the Hornets to the playoffs with a team-high 205 kills. She was also second on the team with 253 digs while serving up 43 aces and blocking 17 shots.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Mendy Sikes, Branford
Led the Buccaneers to a program-best 27-4 record, the District 6-R title, the Region 3-R title and their third trip to the state Final Four in the last six seasons. Branford bounced back from losing the first set to beat Aucilla Christian in the regional semifinals and then went the full five sets to beat Union County in the regional finals to return to state. The Bucs had to win another 5-set match to beat Baker in the state semifinals to reach the state championship for the second straight year, where they lost to Liberty County in three sets.