Belgreen varsity volleyball team captures Franklin County Tournament title

The Belgreen High School varsity volleyball team won the Franklin County Tournament title on Saturday afternoon, defeating Phil Campbell in three sets to capture the county crown. After falling to the Lady Bobcats 2-0 in their first match of the day at 9 A.M., the Lady Bulldogs went on a three-game run to beat Red Bay, Tharptown, and then Phil Campbell in a rematch in the championship round.

“I was really proud of the way the girls responded and the way they played in the championship game against Phil Campbell,” first-year Belgreen head coach Alison Terry said. “We were tired because we had been playing all day, and we had lost to Phil Campbell that morning, so I was worried about how they would come out and play in that game, but they really showed up and played hard and played really well. I was extremely proud of them and how hard they played.”

The Lady Bulldogs were swept by the Lady Bobcats to start the tournament, falling 25-19 and 25-18 in the two sets. Belgreen turned it around in the next two matches, though, sweeping the Lady Tigers of Red Bay and the Tharptown Lady Wildcats to make it to the championship round. Despite the two wins, Terry said she didn’t feel her team was playing up to their full potential to that point.

“We lost to Phil Campbell pretty easily in that first game, and I don’t think we played to the best of our ability against Red Bay and Tharptown,” she said.

Terry did get the best possible effort out of her team in the most important match of the day, however. The Lady Bulldogs, facing Phil Campbell for the second time that day in the county championship, took the first set 25-23, but the Lady Bobcats responded by rolling to a 25-17 victory in set two to tie it up and send it to a decisive third set. In the final, title-deciding set, Phil Campbell jumped out to a 12-8 lead over the Lady Bulldogs, but, with junior Alayna Tate behind the service line, Belgreen went on a 7-0 run to win the set 15-12 and the match 2-1.

“We were down 12-8 and then Alayna Tate served out the rest of our points,” Terry said. “Alayna served and then a Phil Campbell player received the service and it went over the net and (sophomore) Lilliana Willingham just smashed it down for us to score the final point. I’ve gone back and watched that video about 100 times.

“You know, we had not beaten Phil Campbell up to that point this season,” she added. “They had already beaten us once earlier in the season at Phil Campbell and then they’d beaten us in the tournament. I was proud of how they were mentally able to get that out of their head and just go out there and play and win.”

Terry said her team displayed in the win over the Lady Bobcats the type of aggressive mindset she’s been preaching to them all season long.

“You’ve got to go out there ready to play. You’ve gotta have the mentality where, I don’t care if you’ve beaten me all season long. You’ve gotta go out there with confidence and ready to play” she said. “One thing I’ve tried to get across to our varsity players is we’re going to earn every point. We’re not waiting for the other team to give us a point or make a mistake and give us a point.

“I don’t want us playing passive, I want us playing aggressive and earning our points,” Terry added. “In the championship, we earned our points.”

The county championship victory capped an up-and-down week for Belgreen, in terms of wins and losses. The Lady Bulldogs started the week on Monday, September 30th with a 3-1 victory over Red Bay, prior to which Belgreen honored its two seniors, Dacota Green and Morgan Lauderdale.

Terry lauded the coachability and leadership abilities of both student-athletes.

“Dacota, this is her first year playing volleyball, but I had seen her before I came here play basketball. What I love about her is her leadership. All the girls look up to her, and she’s a natural-born leader,” Terry said. “She’s coachable and she wants to learn. She’s always asking questions and she always wants to know what she can do better. She earned her spot in the rotation throughout the year. She wasn’t in the rotation at the beginning of the year because of her lack of experience, but she’s really grown and she’s earned her spot.

“Morgan Lauderdale is a go-getter,” Terry added. “She’s got a great swing and a good serve and she’s very smart and knowledgeable. When something isn’t working, I don’t have to tell her to change it. She knows what to do to change it and to make it better.

“(Lauderdale)’s more of a quiet leader, but I’ve told her that the younger players really look up to her because of how she plays and how she practices and how she handles herself. Just because you’re not a vocal leader doesn’t mean you can’t be a leader in the things that you do.”

After Senior Night, Belgreen suffered two straight 2-0 losses against Covenant Christian and Russellville on Tuesday, October 1st; the Lady Bulldogs then earned a 3-0 victory over Phillips on October 3rd before participating in the Franklin County Tournament.

The Lady Bulldogs have just two matches remaining in the regular season—a match against Red Bay on October 7th and the finale vs. Mars Hill on October 8th. Terry said Belgreen will look to continue improving before the start of the Class 2A Area 14 tournament, in which it will likely be paired with Covenant Christian.

“It doesn’t matter what you do or who you beat in the regular season. You’ve got to continue to get better and play smarter and play tougher if we’re going to be able to compete,” Terry said.

“When we played Covenant Christian the first time we won the first two sets; well they came back and won 3-2, and that was very heartbreaking and discouraging for the girls. But like I told them, everything you do matters. 

“Most everything you do in sports is mental, and that’s what I tell them: You’ve got to mentally get over your mistakes and you’ve got to mentally know what’s going on on the court,” she added. “You’ve got to have the confidence on the court and you’ve got to intimidate the other team with that. So, that’s what we’re focusing on the rest of the season is going out there knowing we can do it, knowing we can win, and not allowing ourselves to be beaten mentally before we step out on the court.”

Whatever does end up happening with the Lady Bulldogs before the end of the campaign, Terry said she’s encouraged by the attitude this team has taken towards improvement in her first year in charge.

“They never give us any trouble and they’re constantly wanting to learn and ask questions,” she said. “They do everything that we ask of them, even if it's something they’re not used to or done in the past. Sometimes you’ve got to change things when they’re not working, you know, and the girls have really been good about that and doing whatever I tell them.

“Their attitudes have been great. They’re a great bunch of girls, you know, and I couldn’t ask for a better group of girls. They deserve the best,” Terry added.

Belgreen seniors Dacota Green, left, and Morgan Lauderdale were honored before the Lady Bulldogs’ match against Red Bay on Monday, September 30.