ADDISON, Ala. The Addison Lady Bulldogs hosted the Winston County Tournament at Allen Stephenson Gym, and it has to be one of the hardest county tournaments in the state. Addison is the No. 1 ranked girls’ team in 1A while Meek is in the top 10. Winston County High School is ranked in the top 5 of 2A. The young Lynn Lady Bears finished out the field and in the end, Addison came away with a four set victory over the ladies from WCHS to win the county title.
Addison Lady Bulldogs 3 – Lynn Lady Bears 0 (25-4, 25-14, 25-13)
The opening game of the tournament matched up the Lady Bulldogs from Addison and the Lady Bears from Lynn. The first set set the tone as Addison ran away with it by a score of 25-4. Addison jumped out to a 16-3 lead behind the serves of Kendall Wyatt and Katie Barrett. Mattie Johnson, Ava Bartlett and Lauryn Cunningham controlled the net for the Lady Bulldogs. After a Lady Bear point, Addison behind Annabeth Powell rolled off the final 9 points for the 25-4 victory.
In the second set, the Lady Bears showed that they weren’t going to just roll over and were determined to put up a game fight. Lynn actually led 9-7 through the first half of the match. After an Addison timeout, Cunningham served the Lady Dawgs to a lead of 11-9. After a quick Lady Bear point, Mattie Johnson all but closed out Lynn by serving for 9 consecutive points to give Addison a commanding 20-9 lead. The rest of the set was just exchanging point for point and Addison came away with a 25-14 victory.
The third and final set had Addison jumping out 9-2 with K. Wyatt and Barrett leading in serves. Bartlett, Johnson and Barrett controlled the net and easily handled anything the Lady Bears threw at them. With the score 9-3, Brystil Moser and Powell led the Lady Dawgs to a 9 to 1 run and a lead of 18-4 Addison. Lynn didn’t quit and actually played pretty well the remainder of the final set as they actually outscored Addison 9-7. Addison was able to win the set and game 25-13, eliminating Lynn from the tournament.
Winston County Lady Yellow Jackets 3 – Meek Lady Tigers 1 (24-26, 25-13, 25-10, 25-16)
WCHS moved on to take on Addison in the championship game.
Addison Lady Bulldogs 3 – Winston County Lady Yellow Jackets 1 (16-25, 25-15, 25-19, 25-19)
This was Addison and Winston County’s third meeting of the season with Addison having won the first two.
The first set was all about the Lady Jackets. Addison got a good start as they led 6-5. Then the Lady Jackets went into high gear. They served well, played excellent defense and generally everything they hit went over the net and a positive outcome ensued. Addison didn’t play badly but it was just WCHS set. The Lady Jackets took 15 out of the next 17 points to take a lead of 20-8. Addison did recover a little as Mattie Johnson led them back with her serve, but it was a little too late to affect the outcome. WCHS took the first set 25-16.
The second set was a back-and-forth affair that had both teams leading, both teams going on runs and each team playing playoff level volleyball. The Lady Bulldogs led 8-5 behind Cunningham’s serve and Barrett and Bartlett defending the net. Moser played excellent back line defense. The Lady Dawgs needed all they could get because WCHS one two punch of Lynnleigh Cobb and Marli Stewart were dynamic, especially Cobb. With the score standing at Addison ahead 11-10, Moser took over the serve and went for 5 straight points. The Lady Jackets answered with 3 of their own and it was a slug fest at 16-13 Lady Dawgs. Addison, behind Powell and Cunningham serves took the final 9 out of 11 points for the 25-15 win. Bartlett and Barrett were demons at the net continuously smashing the ball for kills to the frustration of the Lady Jackets.
The all-important third set had the Lady Jackets jump out to a 4-1 lead. The Lady Dawgs responded behind K. Wyatt taking 6 of the next 7 for the 7-5 Addison lead. WCHS would take 2 for the tie and then Barrett led the Lady Dawgs to 6 straight points for a solid 13-7 lead. It looked like Addison was pulling away from WCHS, but this is a top 2A team and they aren’t going down without a fight. The Lady Jackets came back behind Cobb to snatch 6 out of 7 on another run to slice the lead down to 14-13. Powell took the serve and Bartlett took the net. Six points later, Addison led 20-13 and would not relinquish the lead again. Several more runs between the teams would have Addison holding on and winning 25-19.
What would be the final set was another great game between two fine teams. With the score tied at 10 apiece, Johnson led Addison to a 13-11 lead and WCHS would answer right back to go ahead 15-14. Moser led a Bulldog comeback as Addison would take 7 consecutive points. Johnson and Barrett were leading the defensive charge. Addison had a 21-15 lead, and it would be cut to 22-19. Cunningham finished out the Lady Jackets with the final 3 points to give Addison the 25-19 win.
All-County tournament selections
Lynn (Alli Dutton, Ellise Davis), Meek (Kadence Cox, Carmyn Daughtery), WCHS (Lynnleigh Cobb, Marli Stewart), Addison (Katie Barrett, Brystil Moser, Annabeth Powell) Tournament MVP was Addison’s Ava Bartlett.
Addison Head Coach Kaydi Woodard,
“Girls really stepped it up and played consistently well. This is a tough tournament, and you have to play well to win it. I believe that this is our sixth year in a row to win the county.”
Addison Sophomore Ava Bartlett,
“I am honored to be named MVP. The most important thing though is that our team won the tournament. This was one of our team’s goals, first the county then the area and without a doubt we absolutely want to win state. I know that I couldn’t do any of this without my family’s support and the great teammates and coaches that I have.”
Unofficial stats
Digs: Moser 20, Barrett 15, Cunningham 14
Assists: Powell 64
Aces: Barrett and Powell with 6, Johnson and Moser with 5
Blocks: Johnson 9, Bartlett 7
Kills: Bartlett 20, Barrett 18, Johnson 12
Several Addison ladies reached new milestones for their season and careers. Lauryn Cunningham surpassed 500 digs and 500 kills. Ava Bartlett reached 500 kills, Annabeth Powell had reached 1,000 assists and Katie Barrett made it to 1,000 kills.
Addison will host its area tournament on Wednesday.
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