Varsity volleyball roundup: Local teams off to busy start to 2026 season

Below is a breakdown of all the local varsity volleyball action during the first week and a half of the season, from August 20-29:

Belgreen opened it season on Thursday, August 20, with tri-matches against Addison and Hatton, losing both 2-0 and 2-1, respectively.

Against Addison the Lady Bulldogs fell 25-22 and 25-8. Randi Terry led the way offensively in the loss with six kills and added seven digs. Kiera Smith had eight digs.

Versus Hatton, BHS lost the first set 25-15 but came back to win the second 30-28. That sent the game to a tie-breaking third set which the Lady Hornets won 15-12. Terry led with seven kills in the match, followed by Lily Green’s six kills. Kiera Smith recorded 14 digs for BHS.

Back to the court on Saturday, August 22, the Lady Bulldogs played four matches in a tournament at Central-Florence. Belgreen lost all three of its pool play matches against Class 4A Deshler 2-0 (15-25, 10-25), Class 5A Hartselle 2-0 (13-25, 21-25) and Elkmont 2-0 (22-25, 11-25). The Lady Bulldogs wrapped up the tournament with a defeat in their first Silver Bracket game, falling to Lexington 2-0 (19-25, 16-25). In the loss to the Lady Bears, Terry finished with five kills and Lilliana Willingham had three kills.

The week of August 24-29, Belgreen played two matches against Franklin County competition, including its first area match.

BHS started the week off with a match at Vina, winning 3-0. Caleigh Lawson and Willingham led the way offensively with seven and six kills, respectively. Setters Madalyn LeMay and Leah Blackburn had eight assists each.

The Lady Bulldogs wrapped the week with an area contest at home against Red Bay and came out on top 2-1. Terry was again tops offensively with nine kills. LeMay had seven assists complimented by Blackburn’s six assists. Terry and Madison McKee both finished with eight digs in the win.

Belgreen is set to play tri-matches at home vs. Colbert County and Waterloo on Monday, August 31.

Phil Campbell started its season on Thursday, August 20 with 2-0 sweeps over Phillips and Shoals Christian. The Lady Bobcats then extended their streak to five games beating Tharptown 2-0, Hamilton 2-1, and Red Bay 2-0 at a Colbert Heights-hosted tournament on August 22.

PCHS picked up play on Tuesday, August 25 with a match at Haleyville and took its first loss of the campaign 2-0. The Lady Bobcats then finished off the week with another road match, this one at East Lawrence on Thursday, August 27. Phil Campbell lost the match 2-1.

Phil Campbell’s slated to play its next contests on Tuesday, September 1, with matches against Tharptown and Hatton.

Red Bay began its 2026 campaign at home against Tharptown on August 20, and picked up a 3-1 win over the Lady Wildcats. The Lady Tigers then competed at Colbert Heights’ tournament on August 22, falling to Phil Campbell 2-0 and Hamilton 2-1 before beating Tharptown 2-0.

RBHS hit the court again on Monday, August 24, hosting Mars Hill; the Lady Tigers lost that one 3-0 (15-25, 24-26, 13-25). But Red Bay was able to turn the week around with a historic win over Belmont, beating the Lady Cardinals 3-1 to pick up the program’s first ever victory over its Mississippi rival.

Red Bay capped the week with its first area match on the road at Belgreen, losing 2-1 to the Lady Bulldogs.

The Lady Tigers are scheduled to host Vina in their next match on Tuesday, September 1.

Russellville initiated its new campaign with two opening wins on August 20, sweeping both East Lawrence and Elkmont 2-0. In the win against East Lawrence Samantha Wilson led the RHS attack with six kills. Erin Grimes had eight assists and Bri McCulloch recorded 11 digs. Against Elkmont Blevyn Sappington led the team with six kills and McCulloch had 13 digs.

On the ensuing Saturday the Lady Golden Tigers competed in a tournament at Central-Florence, going 3-3 on the day but making it all the way to the tourney championship game. RHS started the tournament off with back-to-back defeats to Central (14-25, 22-25) and Ardmore (13-25, 25-20, 11-15) before rebounding with three-straight 2-0 victories over Athens Bible School (25-18, 25-17), Waterloo (25-17, 25-18) and Florence (25-15, 25-17). The three-match streak ended in the Silver Bracket championship game vs. Deshler where Russellville fell 2-0 (19-25, 22-25).

The Lady Golden Tigers saw split results in its next matches on Tuesday, August 25. Once again RHS met Deshler and once again DHS came out on top 2-0. Sappington led RHS with eight kills in the loss with Grimes and Alexia Groce adding eight and seven assists, respectively.

Russellville rebounded with a 2-0 (25-11, 25-18) victory over Marion County to improve to 6-4 overall. Sappington and Bella Malone combined for 13 kills in the match and Grimes added another seven assists.

RHS went back to work on Thursday and saw mixed results again, beating Priceville 2-0 (25-21, 25-12) but losing to old nemesis Lawrence County 2-0. On the day Sappington had 13 kills, 19 digs, and three aces; Groce had 15 assists and 17 digs; McCulloch recorded 16 digs and two aces; and Grimes had 21 digs and nine assists.

The week concluded with two wins and two losses at a tournament hosted by West Morgan. Russellville first defeated Mae Jemison 2-0, then lost to Oak Mountain 2-0 before beating Whitesburg 2-0. RHS’ day ended with a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Meek. For the tournament, Malone led the way with 20 kills, four digs, eight blocks and an ace. The Lady Golden Tigers also got 38 digs from McCulloch, and 15 kills, 26 digs, and seven aces from Brookleynn Davis.

Russellville is back in action on Monday, August 31 with matches against Covenant Christian and Lauderdale County.

Tharptown opened its season with a 3-1 defeat to Red Bay on August 20, before suffering three more losses at the hands of Phil Campbell, Red Bay and Hamilton in a Colbert Heights-hosted tournament on Saturday, August 22.

But the Lady Wildcats went back to work on Tuesday, August 25 and were able to secure their first victory of the year, a vital 3-2 home area win over Colbert County.

Unfortunately for THS, two more losses were in the offing on Thursday. The Lady Wildcats suffered their first area defeat to Lexington 3-0 before falling to Colbert Heights 2-0.

Tharptown is set to play again on Tuesday, September 1, with home matches against Phil Campbell and Hatton.

Vina opened its first varsity season with a 3-0 defeat to Belgreen on Monday, August 24.

On Thursday, August 27, the Lady Red Devils came up just short at Phillips, losing to the Lady Bears 3-2.

VHS will play its next match on Tuesday, September 1, at Red Bay.