HOLLY POND – Day one of the 2017 Cullman County Volleyball Tournament in Holly Pond saw some exciting action, with defending champion Fairview seeing tough competition in the double-elimination tournament.
West Point (2-0) over Holly Pond
The first game was dominated by the West Point Lady Warriors, even though it was a close contest early on. The Lady Broncos cut a 13-6 deficit to just four at 13-9, but that was the closest they got as the Lady Warriors, with a total team effort, outscored Holly Pond, 12-5, to take the first set, 25-14.
Game two saw the Lady Broncos jump out to a 7-4 lead behind three huge aces by Eva Duke and Kyndell Hays, as they looked to even the series up at one, but West Point came back and led by some big points by Gracie Thompson, Mackenzie Carter and Lexi Shadix, went on a 13-4 run to take a 17-11 lead and looked to sweep in dominating fashion, but Holly Pond looked to make them work for it as they cut the deficit to 20-15. The Lady Warriors got the final five points, including a big ace by Thompson, to take the second game, 25-15, to sweep the Lady Broncos.
Good Hope (2-0) over Hanceville
Good Hope jumped out to a 3-0 lead after an ace by Ally Knight. Hanceville tied it at three after an ace by Mattellan Rusk, but the Lady Raiders scored the next eight points, including a kill by Kate Kent, four straight aces by Alec Jackson, and back-to-back kills by Sadie Fendley and Leyton Seal, to take an 11-3 lead as they cruised to a 25-10 win to take a 1-0 lead. Twelve of their 25 points came on aces.
The Lady Raiders continued to dominate in game two as they jumped out to an 8-2 lead behind two aces by Christian Smith and big points by Jackson and Fendley. Smith added five more aces for the rest of the game to finish with seven, Kent added three points and Knight added another ace for the Lady Raiders as they went on to a 25-11 win and a 2-0 sweep.
Fairview (2-0) over West Point
West Point jumped on the defending champions early as the Lady Warriors led 4-0 after a block point by the combined hands of Shadix and Meredith Calvert, and stretched it to 7-2 after a Shadix ace. But the Lady Aggies had an answer as they outscored the Lady Warriors, 8-3, behind two aces by Rachael Yearwood, and a big point by Abby Taylor, to tie the game at 10. With the game tied at 15, led by four aces by Katie Ball and a big kill by Tess Bailey, the Lady Aggies took the first game, 25-17.
The second game was close the whole way. A point by Shadix gave West Point a 18-14 lead and looked to tie it up at one, but again, Fairview came back, behind a kill by Taylor and an ace by Ball, and the Lady Warriors had some unforced errors as they let a late lead slip again; the Lady Aggies wound up taking game two, 25-21.
Cold Springs (2-0) over Vinemont
The first game saw Cold Springs jump out to a 4-1 lead after two kills by Taylor Chambers. Both teams swapped the lead a few times in the match. Vinemont held a 20-16 lead, but Cold Springs went on a 5-0 run to take a 21-20 lead. After Vinemont retook the lead at 22-21, Cold Springs scored the final four points to take game one, 25-22.
Game two saw Vinemont jump out to a 3-0 lead, but Cold Springs recovered quickly, taking a 10-7 lead. The Lady Eagles stretched their lead to 19-12, but there was no quit in Vinemont as a 10-4 run cut the deficit to 23-22. Cold Springs got the final two points to sweep Vinemont. The Lady Eagles got big performances from Desmarie Moore, Taylor Chambers, Anna Freeman Voce and Emma Chambers. They also got big help from the rest of their team in their sweep.
Vinemont (2-1) over Hanceville in loser's bracket
Game one was close as the biggest lead either team had was four by Vinemont twice. The Lady Eagles’ lead was at 20-16, but the Lady Bulldogs cut it to 20-19 before Vinemont got five of the final seven points to take it, 25-22.
Game two went back and forth for some of the game. The Lady Eagles had a 19-16 lead and saw that lead evaporate before their eyes as the Lady Bulldogs took a 22-19 lead, and they held on to win, 25-22, to tie it up at one.
The third game was all Vinemont from the start as the Lady Eagles jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead after an ace by Bethany Golden, but Hanceville went on a 6-3 run, with the final two points of the run coming on an ace by Dinah Hudson and a point by Rusk, to cut the deficit to 11-8. But the Lady Eagles didn't let them get any closer than three the rest of the way, taking the final game, 15-11, eliminating Hanceville from the tournament. The Lady Bulldogs will travel to Hayden on Thursday. They got some solid performances from Karmen Johnson, Rusk, Savannah Hollingsworth, and the rest of the team. They will play in next Tuesday's area tournament game at Carbon Hill.
Good Hope (2-0) over Cold Springs
It was close early on between Good Hope and Cold Springs and it stayed that way for the whole match. After an Emma Chambers ace cut the lead to 6-3, the deficit for either team did not get more than four for the whole game, and there were eight ties, the last being at 16. Big points by Seal, Jesse Kent, and Alec Jackson gave the Lady Raiders a 21-18 lead, and they stretched it to 24-20 after an ace by Knight. The Lady Eagles cut it to 24-22 after a kill by Voce, but Kate Kent clinched the win for Good Hope with the final point of the match.
Good Hope started out game two strong, jumping out to a 6-2 lead after a point by Jesse Kent. Cold Springs quickly struck back, outscoring the Lady Raiders, 13-6, behind points by Moore and Taylor Chambers, and some unforced errors by Good Hope, to take a 15-12 lead. The deficit after that didn't grow to more than two the rest of the game. Big points by Kate Kent and Seal tied the game up at 16, and after that, both teams went back and forth. Good Hope tied it up at 23 late in the match, and clinched the sweep by getting the final kill point from Kent to win, 25-23, sending Cold Springs to the loser's bracket game against Holly Pond.
Good Hope got big performances from Kate Kent, Seal, Smith, Fendley, Jackson and Knight, along with the rest of the bench players, to go 2-0 on the day. They will take on Fairview tomorrow afternoon at 4.
West Point (2-0) over Vinemont
West Point looked to come back after getting swept by Fairview earlier on in the day. The Lady Warriors jumped out to a 7-3 lead, but Vinemont scored four in a row to tie it at seven. It was all Lady Warriors after that, putting up nine straight points en route to a 25-12 win in game one.
It was a battle in game two as both teams put it all out there. After Vinemont tied it at 11, the Lady Warriors, once again, started a big run, putting up seven in a row to make it 18-11. Vinemont would not quit, cutting the big deficit to 23-19. But West Point scored the final two points to finish off the 25-19 win and the sweep, eliminating the Lady Eagles from the tournament. The Lady Warriors will take on Holly Pond in the loser's bracket tomorrow afternoon at 3.
Pendley, Shadix, Carter, Avery McClure and others put up big performances for West Point, and Vinemont is improving each game going into next Tuesday's area tournament game against Oakman.
Holly Pond (2-1) over Cold Springs in loser's bracket game
Game one was back and forth early on between Holly Pond and Cold Springs. After Antonia Smith tied the game at eight, the Lady Eagles scored four in a row to take a 12-8 lead. Kills by Taylor Chambers and Lillian McSpadden, plus an ace by Emilee Harbison and a point by Voce, helped Cold Springs start a 7-0 run to take a 15-12 lead. They kept Holly Pond at arm's length the rest of the way, getting a big performance from Chambers as she finished with four aces, a point and two kills for the match in a 25-16 win for the Lady Eagles.
The Lady Eagles kept the momentum going into the next game, jumping out to a 6-1 lead behind two aces by Voce and two block points by Taylor Chambers, and stretched it to 11-3. Behind two kills by Kara Hollis, an ace by Presley Marks, two points by Smith and some unforced errors by the Lady Eagles, they cut the big lead to 15-14 after the Hollis ace. After Taylor Chambers got a point to make it 17-15, Holly Pond got some unforced errors by Cold Springs, an ace from Hays and a point from Taylor Martin to start an 8-0 run to take a 23-17 lead and held off a late rally by the Lady Eagles to win, 25-21, to tie the set up at one.
Game three saw eight ties between the teams. Unforced errors by both teams kept the game close for the whole contest, and after a kill by Duke tied the game up at 11, her teammates finished what she started, as kills by Hollis, Moore and Smith, and an ace by Hollis, gave Holly Pond a 15-11 win, keeping the Lady Broncos alive in the tournament while eliminating the Lady Eagles. They will take on West Point tomorrow at 3. Cold Springs will travel to Meek on Thursday.
Hollis, Marks, Smith and Moore had big performances for Holly Pond, as did Taylor Chambers, Emme Chambers, Voce, Harbison, Kylon Hamby and McSpadden for Cold Springs.
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