Historic Russellville volleyball campaign ends in second round of AHSAA North Super Regional
All good things must come to an end.
For the Russellville High School varsity volleyball team, an historically good thing came to an end on Wednesday.
The Lady Golden Tigers, in a record-breaking, area tournament-winning, playoff-qualifying campaign, fell to Guntersville in the second round of the AHSAA North Super Regional tournament on October 22, capping a 41-16 year.
“This season was incredible,” second-year Russellville head coach Madison Lamon said. “Ending with a 41-16 record is something we’ll always be proud of, but the way these girls fought every game, communicated, had positive attitudes and high energy helped us become more successful.
“This group of girls, their grit, determination, and chemistry, there’s something special about them. I’ve never seen a team that fights this hard and has such a strong bond,” Lamon added. “As far as the key to our success, it really comes down to consistency, having that confidence and believing in each other. We set high standards from day one and worked toward those goals every day. The girls pushed through every challenge and celebrated every victory, which kept the momentum going. What they achieved together, as a team and individually, is something this program will remember for a long time. I am proud of how each one has carried themselves on and off of the court.”
On their journey to Hoover, where the North Super Regional was held, the Lady Golden Tigers broke the program record for wins in a season on September 20, won several regular season tournaments, and clinched the regular season Class 5A Area 15 title.
Russellville, which won the program’s first area tournament title on October 16 after beating Lawrence County 3-1, advanced to the regional tournament for the first time since 2014 and opened the competition against the Area 9 runner-up Northside Lady Rams, a match that had to be one of the closest and hardest fought of the regional.
Russellville got off to a hot start in the first set against NHS, opening up an 8-0 lead before the Lady Rams got on the board. RHS maintained an eight-point advantage for a little longer until, about halfway through the set, Northside went on a run to cut Russellville’s lead to 15-12.
The Lady Golden Tigers needed a run of their own to give themselves a little more breathing room again, but both sides traded blows until sophomore Blevyn Sappington ended the set with a kill that gave RHS the 25-20 win.
The second set was bookended by Northside runs that would see the Lady Rams level the score.
In set two, NHS went up 4-0 to start and held a 12-9 advantage before RHS started to attempt a comeback. A quick burst from Russellville saw the Lady Golden Tigers tie and then take their first lead of the set, 14-13, after a Northside attack error. But after trading a few points, NHS got streaky again late and outscored RHS 10-3 to close the set out, winning it 25-18.
The match tied at 1-1, Northside took the momentum into the third set—a set the Lady Rams ultimately won, but RHS contested to the bitter end.
After RHS took the first point of the set, NHS put together a slew of rallies that saw the Lady Rams go up 11-6 before Russellville was able to find a firm foothold in the set.
Cutting Northside’s lead down to two points, 11-9, after a service ace by senior setter Fatima Ramirez, that’s where things stood in a near stalemate that lasted until the end of the set. Late in the set, Russellville tied the game up from behind five times—three times on kills by senior Laila Hill—and at one point held a 24-23 lead, its first since the opening point.
Unfortunately for RHS, Northside used a timeout and two service aces to help retake the lead and finally won on an attack error by Russellville.
From 1-0 up to 2-1 down, the Lady Golden Tigers now faced a monumental fourth set—and it didn’t get off to a great start for Russellville.
Just like in the second set, Northside jumped out to a 4-0 lead and went up 8-4 before a service error allowed the Lady Golden Tigers a path. From that point, Russellville—aided by a block by eighth-grader Samantha Wilson, errors by Northside, and three aces from Ramirez—went on a 10-2 run to go up 15-10.
Russellville maintained that advantage and then extended it late thanks to a couple of blocks by Bella Malone, two aces by Sappington, and kills by Hill and Wilson, Wilson’s kill being the point that won RHS the set 25-19 and tied the match back up at two sets apiece.
The tiebreaking fifth and final set, the result of which would end one team’s season, played out with as much drama as the previous four.
After Northside took the opening point, the two teams battled point for point and at no time in the set did either lead by more than three.
Russellville went down 5-3 before clawing back to take a 9-6 lead. But Northside didn’t go down without a fight; the Lady Rams tied the match back up 10-10 to force a Russellville timeout.
Lamon’s called break ultimately worked out for her side: RHS scored the next three points after the timeout to go up 13-10 before kills by Hill and Wilson ended the set 15-12 and the match 3-2 in Russellville’s favor.
In the end, the five-set thriller came down to just a handful of runs, individual effort plays, and crucial momentum swingers.
“I think some of our strong servers picked us up there, and my girls are just diving for the ball and getting there to block and recover,” Lamon told the Franklin Free Press a few minutes after the match.
The Russellville crowd, especially the students, can also take some credit in the Lady Golden Tigers’ first round victory. Golden Tiger fans filled up the row of bleachers set up just behind the visitor side endline and were there to badger every Northside player that went back to serve, resulting in more than a few serves into the net.
“I also want to take a moment to thank our parents, administration, coaches, student body, and all of our supporters and fans. It changes the atmosphere of the game when you have a crowd like we had. Their encouragement and belief in this program mean the world to us. We couldn’t have accomplished any of this without their support,” Lamon said after the day was over.
In a clichéd turn of phrase, in a match that could’ve gone either way, Russellville’s result against Northside could’ve just come down to something as simple as who wanted it more.
“I’m so proud of them for not giving up,” Lamon added of her players. “They showed grit even when our backs were against the wall. They pushed through, and they’re showing they really want it, they want to be here and that they deserve to be here.”
Celebrating the program’s first regional tournament victory couldn’t last long, however. Less than two hours after taking Northside the distance, the Lady Golden Tigers were set to face off against Guntersville, who came into the match with a 58-5 record and ranked No. 1 in Class 5A by MaxPreps.com.
Whether due to the physically and emotionally taxing nature of the Northside game or because the Guntersville Lady Wildcats are an incredibly good and talented team—probably a combination of both—Russellville was unable to keep pace with the five-time state champs and were eliminated in straight sets.
GHS doubled up on Russellville 25-12 in the first set; won the second set 25-19 after beating back a Russellville comeback attempt; and defeated RHS 25-12 again in the final set.
“The Guntersville match was intense,” Lamon told the FFP. “We went into the game with a lot of emotion after the previous match, and I know it took a lot out of us physically and mentally. But our girls are tough—they fight through adversity like no other group I’ve coached.
“Honestly, every game this season has been a lesson in resilience, and they showed that yet again in the Guntersville game, especially in the second set,” she added. “They knew it wasn't going to be easy and knew it was something that they were going to have to fight for and be on their ‘A’ game and it just didn't fall in our favor.”
The loss to Guntersville ended Russellville volleyball’s campaign but didn’t do anything to take away from what the Lady Golden Tigers achieved in 2025.
In fact, there were still two more individual achievements reached on October 22. Joining sophomore libero Bri McCulloch, who set the single-season digs record in September, seniors Laila Hill and Fatima Ramirez, in their final two matches for RHS, broke the single-season records for kills and assists, respectively.
Both seniors, Lamon said, not only etched their names into the program’s record books but also into the program’s foundation for the future.
“Our seniors, Laila and Fatima, are the heart and soul of this team. Both of them have reached milestones that speak to their dedication and hard work, and they’ve set such a high bar for future players,” the RHS head coach said. “They’ve poured everything into this program, and their leadership has been part of the glue that held us together at times through the ups and downs.
“They’ve left a legacy, not just with their individual accomplishments, but in the way they’ve mentored and inspired some of the younger players. They’ll always hold a special place in my heart and in the history of this program, as well,” Lamon added.
While the two seniors played vital roles for the Lady Golden Tigers this past year, they were the two oldest of a young squad overall. The rest of the team consisted of three juniors, seven sophomores, and an eighth-grader.
This season, the aforementioned sophomore McCulloch finished her campaign as the program’s career leader in digs and led the state in that category; sophomore Blevyn Sappington finished behind Hill as the team’s kills leader; and sophomore Bella Malone was a team leader in blocks, just to name a few.
The young Lady Golden Tigers aged only a few months over the course of the campaign but grew years in experience and maturity—and played like it, too.
“It’s easy to forget how young we are because this group plays with such maturity. Our younger players have been phenomenal this season, and honestly, I think they’ve exceeded expectations. The way they’ve stepped up has been inspiring,” Lamon said. “Thinking ahead to next season—there’s so much potential with this group. We’ll take what we’ve learned from this season and build on it, focusing on developing that depth and continuing to grow both individually and as a team. Our foundation is strong, and I’m excited to see where this group can go in the coming years.”
The future of Russellville volleyball, it’s safe to say, is bright. But whatever success the Lady Golden Tigers achieve in the years to come, it will all point back to this group of Russellville players and what they were able to accomplish in an historic 2025.
“It’s just been an amazing year,” Lamon said. “This team is more than just a collection of players, they’re a family. They’ve broken records, laid a foundation, and now it’s time to continue pushing forward.”