ADDISON, Ala. — The Addison Lady Bulldogs hosted this year’s 1A Area 14 tournament Wednesday night and they collected wins over St. Bernard and Meek to capture the area title. Addison opened up with the St. Bernard Lady Saints and won in three sets. The Meek Lady Tigers took care of the youthful Cullman Christian Lady Lions 3-0 and Addison defeated a quality Lady Tiger team 3-0 to win the tournament. Both Addison and Meek will advance to the 1A State Playoffs next week.
Addison Lady Bulldogs 3 – St. Bernard Lady Saints 0 (25-13, 25-10, 25-8)
St. Bernard came out ready to play by grabbing a 7-3 lead early on. Senior Katie Barrett settled the Dawgs down as she served for four straight points to tie the set at 7. The two teams split the next four points and stood at 9 all. After a Barrett kill, Addison, behind the serve of Annabeth Powell, took 6 straight points. The defense was led by a Mattie Johnson block and a Lauryn Cunningham kill. With Addison leading 15-10, Cunningham went for 5 straight points to give Addison the 20-10 lead. The teams basically swapped points the remainder of the game with Ava Bartlett standing out on defense with 3 kills and a block. Addison took the first set 25-13.
The second set had the Lady Saints again, jumping out quickly taking a 4-1 lead. Barrett had Addison back in it serving 4 consecutive points. With the game tied at 5, Brystil Moser took over the serve and didn’t stop until Addison had a 11-5 lead. After the Lady Saints took 2 of the next three to cut the lead to 12-7, Addison’s Cunningham and Johnson basically ended it by combing to outscore the Lady Saints 13-3. Bartlett had several kills and Powell and Bartlett had a block or two apiece. Addison took the set 25-10.
The third set was all Addison. With Cunningham serving, Addison took the 5-0 lead. St. Bernard wouldn’t go away and took 5 of the next 8 points to trim the deficit to 8-5. The Lady Bulldogs then decided enough was enough and went on a 17-3 run. During this run, Barrett served for 8 points, Moser for 6 and Cunningham ended it with the final 3. Bartlett and Johnson took care of the net work. Addison won the final set 25-8 ending the improving Lady Saints season.
Meek Lady Tigers 3 – Cullman Christian Lady Lions 0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-21)
In a very surprising game, the experienced and ranked Meek Lady Tigers got all that they could handle with the very young Lady Lions. The Lady Lions don’t have a senior on their roster and the future is certainly bright for the newcomers to the area. Each game was a fight and Meek’s playoff experience, and overall talent was enough to capture the win from the very game Lady Lions.
Addison Lady Bulldogs 3 – Meek Lady Tigers 0 (25-17, 25-0, 25-21)
Addison and Meek who have played several times this season with Addison coming out on top each time. All the games are close, but the Lady Bulldogs seem to have the Lady Tigers number. Meek had an early 5-4 lead before Moser took over the serve and went for 6 straight points to give Addison the 10-5 lead. Addison’s defense was solid and was being led by Bartlett and Barrett who each had a kill. Meek stiffened up and took 5 out of 6 to cut the lead to 11-9. The two teams both played very well and split the next 12 points and with Addison leading 17-15. After an Addison timeout, The Bulldogs sealed the deal winning 8 out of 10 for the final of 25-17. Cunningham had some kills and Johnson and Bartlett each had a block.
The second set was a very rare event. Addison won the set 25-0. Those scores rarely happen and when it does it is usually when a superior team plays a very weak team. Meek is not a weak team as they are ranked in 1A. This set just had everything go right for the Lady Bulldogs and nothing went right for the Lady Tigers. The Lady Bulldogs also rode a hot server in Mattie Johnson as she picked her spots and drilled the ball everywhere and anywhere she wanted. After Meek opened the serve and Addison took the point, Johnson took the ball to serve for Addison and would not relinquish it for the remainder of the set. The crowd was into it as well as the closer the Lady Bulldogs got to 25 the more pressure there was on the ladies to make it there. Bartlett came alive during this set as she had 4 kills. As the final point was scored by Addison, the crowd went wild as did the Lady Bulldogs. Just think about this, Johnson served for 24 straight points which means she didn’t hit the ball out of bounds and didn’t hit the net. It really was an incredible feat.
The third and final set had the Lady Bulldogs come out flat, as would be expected after such a magnificent second set. Meek came out focused and took a 5-0 lead. Addison settled down but Meek was still outplaying the Lady Bulldogs and stretched the lead to 12-6. With both teams playing very good defense they swapped the next 6 points and Meek was in control 15-9. Little Miss Calie Garrison took the serve for the Lady Bulldogs and led them back. Little Miss Garrison had 5 straight points to trim the lead to 15-14. Meek went on a quick 3-0 lead to ease the lead out to 18-14. Both teams really wanted this set, and you couldn’t find any fault in their defense or offense as the score stood at 20-17 Meek. Moser took the serve and gave Addison the lead at 23-20. Moser was helped by excellent defense from Johnson as she had 3 consecutive kills. Cunningham also had another kill for good measure. After a Lady Tiger point had cut it to 23-21, Powell ended it for the Dawgs as she got the final two points for the sweep.
Addison Head Coach Kaydi Woodard,
“I think we played pretty well tonight. I mean St. Bernard has played us tough all year and Meek is a solid quality program. That second set was incredible. You don’t see them very often, but you really never see them against a team the quality of Meek. Mattie (Johnson) got hot and got help from the rest of the ladies. I was very proud of her and the team as a whole. We are headed to Birmingham now for the state playoffs.”
Addison’s All Tournament players; Lauryn Cunningham, Katie Barrett, Ava Bartlett. Tourney MVP Mattie Johnson
Official Stats
Aces: Barrett and Johnson with 9. Moser 4, Cunningham 2.
Digs: Barrett and Moser with 22. Cunningham 12
Blocks: Johnson 5, Bartlett 4, Powell 3.
Assists: Powell 70
Kills: Bartlett 24, Barrett 17, Johnson 15
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