ADDISON, Ala. – Addison hosted the 4A Central Florence Lady Wildcats on Senior Night at Allen Stephenson Gym in a closely contested volleyball game. The Lady Bulldogs took the match in four sets, 25-14, 24-26, 25-20 and 25-21.
The first set started out fairly equally, as the teams split the first ten points. “Dynamite” Dacey Baker blasted the poor ball into the court floor for a kill and that seemed to jump start the Lady Dawgs. Lydia “Barbie” Ergle got the serve and Addison scored six straight points to take a 12-5 lead. After two quick Central points to cut the lead to 12-7, Addison rolled off ten of the next 13 points to take a comfortable 22-8 lead. The Lady Dawgs were led by two Katie Barrett blocks and an Abby Waldrep kill. Hadley “Shooter” Butler contributed in her own right by serving for four of the points. Central rallied to cut the lead to 23-14 and then Baker finished the Lady Wildcats off with a kill to end the game and give the Lady Dawgs 25-14.
The second set was a perfect example of no one wanting to lose and the ladies on both teams playing at 110%. The Lady Dawgs jumped out to an 8-0 lead behind “Magic” Molly Gilbreath serving on seven of them. Baker and Barrett had a kill each in the run. Central Florence didn’t quit and went on a huge run of their own. The gals from Florence dominated the next segment of the game taking 14 of the next 18 points to take a 14-12 lead. Addison made numerous unforced errors and seemed to lack concentration. The rest of the game was a back-and-forth affair as the two teams alternated points. Neither team scored more than two points in a row. Addison tied it at 14 then led 16-15 on a Barrett smash. Central roared back and to take a 19-18 lead. Points were hard to come by as both teams played excellent defense and the volleys lasted forever. With the score tied at 24, Central Florence buckled down and took the final two points for the 26-24 victory and tie the game at one set a piece.
With the Lady Dawgs seeking to retake control of the game. Addison took an 8-3 lead with Barrett and Baker dominating the net. As usual, Central came back and took seven of the next eleven points. to cut the lead to 12-10. The set continued as the Lady Wildcats cut the lead down to 15-14. The Lady Dawgs, following the serve of Gilbreath, took six out of seven to seemingly take control of the game at 21-15. Once again, the Lady Wildcats used some very well-placed dink and dunk shots to come back and cut the Lady Dawgs lead to 21-19. The ladies from Central Florence were like a Hollywood villain who just wouldn’t die, and they would just keep coming back time and time again. Addison was able to use the defensive digs of Ergle and Bailee Ory to close out the set winning 25-20.
The final set didn’t disappoint as both teams played great defense and had some timely serves. After the first sixteen points the score was tied at 8. The Ladies from Addison got serious as they wanted to get on with Senior night and went on a seven out of nine run to lead 15-10. Lauryn “Beemer” Cunningham had a timely kill and Gracie “Bug” Manley did her usual assist on about every Addison point. The Lady Wildcats were determined to spoil the remainder of the evening and cut the lead down to 18-15. Addison slowly pulled away and using Baker, Barrett and Waldrep as the main front line came away with the victory, 25-21.
Addison took the match 3-1.
Addison Head Coach Kaydi Woodard,
“I am so proud of our team to be able to beat a quality team like Central on Senior Night,” Woodard said. “We were able to get it done and now it’s off to the County Tournament at Lynn.”
Addison honored seven seniors on this evening, and they were Abby Waldrep, Gracie Manley, Lydia Ergle, Molly Gilbreath, Olivia Gober, Ashley Harden and Anna Grace Atkins. These ladies have represented Addison High School well and I am sure that they have bright futures in front of them. Good luck to you all.
Unofficial stats:
Kills: Barrett 16, Baker 14, Waldrep eight and Cunningham six.
Digs: Ergle 12, Ory 10, Manley nine, Butler seven and Gilbreath with five.
Assists: Manley had 27.
Blocks: Waldrep seven, Barrett five, Butler four and Manley with two.
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