GOOD HOOPE, Ala. – This year’s Cullman County Volleyball Tournament wrapped up at Good Hope High School Tuesday night and for the second year in a row, the Lady Raiders are county champions. Good Hope knocked off Holly Pond in its first match of the day and swept the Lady Broncos in the finals to secure the county crown.
Lady Raiders Head Coach Natasha Holder was proud to see her team defend their home court and come away with another county championship, especially with a big group of seniors leading this year’s squad.
“It’s really sweet to see this group come together and buy in to what we want to do at Good Hope and relive what Good Hope Volleyball is known for,” Holder said. “It’s really special, especially with five seniors this year to be able to host county on our home court and to come in as the no. 1 seed and just take care of business all the way through was really nice to see. I’m really proud for them to be able to do that.”
The Lady Raiders also collected a little extra hardware before the championship trophy was presented. Ivey Maddox was named this year’s County Tournament MVP and Bailey Keef received this year’s Samantha Perdue award. The Perdue award honors the former Good Hope coach and Cold Springs teacher who lost her battle to cancer in 2013. Perdue was an inspiration to many young athletes as well as a blessing to everyone she met. The award is given to a senior volleyball player for character, hard work and community involvement.
Good Hope 2 – Holly Pond 0 (25-13, 25-18)
The Lady Raiders jumped out to a 4-1 start in the opening set and quickly extended that lead to 10-4 as the set went on. Holly Pond managed to battle back and cut the lead to 13-9 midway through the set, but Good Hope seized the momentum the rest of the way, outscoring Holly Pond 12-5 and pulling away to take the first set over the Lady Broncos 25-14.
The second set was a little tighter for the Lady Raiders. They got out to another 4-1 start, but this time Holly Pond was able to trim the lead all the way down to 9-8. However, Good Hope used an 8-1 scoring run move out in front 17-9 and held off a late rally from the Lady Broncos to win the set 25-18 and secure the county championship.
Stats from the championship match
Good Hope
Ivey Maddox (nine kills, three points, and two aces)
Emma Bailey (Two points, two kills, and an ace)
Bailey Keef (five kills, an ace and two points)
Katie Creel (ace and a point)
Maddie McKenney (two aces)
Addie Stripling (ace)
Charly Johnson (three kills)
Holly Pond
Kamryn Tankersley (three points and two kills)
Maycie Black (ace)
Aliyah Ryan (ace)
Emma Earl (two points) Ellie Burks (ace and two points)
All-County Tournament Team
Patton Fells, West Point
Kaylee Rohrscheib, Holly Pond
Laci Segrest, Cold Springs
Maddie McKenney, Good Hope
Charly Johnson, Good Hope
Kylee Quinn, West Point
Abby Young, Vinemont
Maycie Black, Holly Pond
Kamryn Tankersley, Holly Pond
Abby McDonald, Fairview
Emma Earl, Holly Pond
Liberty Shadix, West Point
Bailey Keef, Good Hope
Brooklyn Wells, West Point
Ivey Maddox, Good Hope (MVP)
All-County Team
Abby McDonald, Fairview
Bailey Keef, Good Hope
Ivey Maddox, Good Hope
Addie Stripling, Good Hope
Ciara Calvert, Cold Springs
Charity Barnes, Hanceville
Kamryn Tankersley, Holly Pond
Emma Earl, Holly Pond
Maycie Black, Holly Pond
Abby Young, Vinemont
Laklin Shadix, West Point
Liberty Shadix, West Point
Brooklyn Wells, West Point
West Point 2 – Vinemont 0 (25-23, 25-19)
Vinemont got off to a red-hot start in the first set as they took a quick 5-2 lead and would later stretch it to 9-2. The Lady Eagles held a 13-6 lead later in the set, but West Point slowly started to chip away at the deficit as they went on a 7-1 run to cut it to 14-13. Vinemont would push their lead to 17-14, but the Lady Warriors would end up tying things up at 18 and later took a 21-19 lead. West Point would increase their lead to 24-21 and they would go on to win the first set, 25-23.
The second set was close early on as West Point held a slim 7-6 lead, but they went on to push their lead to 11-7. The Lady Warriors increased their lead to 16-10, but back came Vinemont as they scored the next four points to make it a 16-14 contest. West Point scored five in a row to stretch their lead to 21-14, but Vinemont made things a little interesting in the end as they cut it to 24-19. The Lady Warriors were able to collect the final point of the game and they picked up a 25-19 win over the Lady Eagles as they moved on to the next round.
Fairview 2 – Cold Springs 0 (28-26, 25-17)
The first set saw Fairview jump out to a quick 4-0 lead and would later push it to 9-3. Fairview would later pad their lead even further as they made it 17-9, but Cold Springs came back to make things very interesting as they cut it to 18-15. The Lady Aggies would push their lead to 21-15, but the Lady Eagles were not done by a long shot as they came storming back to take a 23-22 lead. Cold Springs later held a 26-25 lead, but Fairview would get the final three points of the first set to win a wild one, 28-26.
Cold Springs jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the second set, but Fairview would cut it to 7-6 and would later go on a huge run to take a 16-8 lead. The Lady Eagles cut the deficit to just five multiple times, but they wouldn’t get any closer after that as the Lady Aggies would pull away at the end to take the second set, 25-17, and they moved on to the next round to take on West Point.
Good Hope 2 – Holly Pond 0 (25-15, 25-19)
Holly Pond grabbed an early 4-2 lead in the first set against Good Hope and it was close halfway through the contest. The Lady Broncos held a slim 8-6 lead, but the Lady Raiders came back to take a 10-8 lead. Good Hope was leading 14-13 and that’s when they began to pull away from Holly Pond as six straight points pushed their lead to 20-13. Holly Pond cut it to 20-14, but the Lady Raiders would be too much for them at the end as they ended up taking the first set, 25-15.
Holly Pond took a 4-3 lead early on in the second set and would later make it an 8-3 game. Good Hope, though, answered right back in a big way as they went on a 7-0 run to take a 10-8 lead. There would be several lead changes and ties for a while. Holly Pond held a 15-14 lead, but another big run by the Lady Raiders gave them the lead right back at 21-15. The Lady Broncos cut the deficit to five at 24-19, but Good Hope got the last point of the set as they won the second set, 25-19, to move on to the championship game.
West Point 2 – Fairview 0 (25-23, 25-17)
West Point jumped out to a 6-3 lead in the first set, but Fairview came back to tie it up at six. The Lady Aggies went on a 5-2 run to take an 11-9 lead, but both teams would later find themselves in a 13-all tie. The Lady Warriors broke the tie with three in a row to give them a 16-13 lead, but Fairview tied things up at 16 with three straight points of their own. West Point later held a 19-17 lead and would push their lead to 23-19, but the Lady Aggies had an answer as they made it a 24-23 game. The Lady Warriors were able to collect the final point as they took the first set, 25-23.
Fairview held onto a 5-3 lead early on in the second set and later pushed it to 7-4 lead. West Point scored seven straight points to take an 11-7 lead and they would later make it a 13-9 game. After the Lady Warriors pushed their lead to 17-11, the Lady Aggies looked to go on a little run of their own as they ended up cutting it to 18-14, and later on, to 21-17. West Point, though, finished the game strong as they scored the final four points of the second set and ended up defeating Fairview, 25-17. They moved on to take on Holly Pond to see who would take on Good Hope in the championship game.
Holly Pond 2 – West Point 1 (25-20, 20-25, 15-13)
Holly Pond jumped out to a quick 3-1 lead in the first set. Back-to-back kills by Liberty Shadix tied things up at four and later on, Laklin Shadix collected back-to-back points to give West Point an 8-7 lead. The Lady Warriors made it 13-10 on a kill by Kylee Quinn, but the Lady Broncos went on a big run as a pair of points by Ellie Burks gave them a 17-14 lead. Kamryn Tankersley would later add an ace and Maycie Black collected a point of her own as Holly Pond pushed their lead to 20-14. West Point trimmed their deficit to just three twice late in the first set, the last one would be 23-20. The Lady Broncos got the final two points of the first set as they ended up taking it, 25-20.
The Lady Broncos got off to a fast start in the second set as they quickly broke a 2-2 tie with five straight points, including a pair of Tankersley aces, to give them a 7-2 lead. West Point came back to tie it up at eight on points by Laklin Shadix and Katie Beth Yovino. It would stay close after that for a while, but after Holly Pond grabbed a 12-11 lead, the Lady Warriors scored five straight points as a kill by Liberty Shadix and a point by Kylee Quinn gave them a 16-12 lead. West Point would later push their lead to 21-15, but Holly Pond made things very interesting after that as a point each by Emma Earl, Burks, and Tankersley cut it to 22-20. The Lady Warriors ended up getting the final three points of the second set as they ended up winning, 25-20, to tie it up at one.
An Aliyah Ryan ace gave Holly Pond a 4-1 lead in the third and deciding set. A point by Black kept the Lady Bronco lead at three at 6-3. A Liberty Shadix kill was followed by back-to-back aces from Yovino as that tied it up at seven. Neither team went on that huge run to pull away at the end as there would be several ties and lead changes for most of the third set. A Black ace gave the Lady Warriors a 12-11 lead, but Holly Pond came back to take a 13-12 lead. West Point tied it up at 13, but the Lady Broncos would be the team to move on to the championship game as they got the final two points of the third set to take home the 15-13 win.
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