Varsity volleyball roundup: Belgreen clinches top seed for area tourney, RHS’ Sappington reaches statistical milestone

The following is a recap of local varsity volleyball action from September 21-26:

Belgreen (11-14) opened its week with an area win over Cherokee on Monday, September 21.

The 3-0 (25-11, 25-12, 25-9) victory over the Lady Indians clinched the top seed for the Lady Bulldogs in the upcoming Class 1A Area 14 tournament. Randi Terry had a team-high 10 kills and 10 digs in the important win; Madison McKee and Caleigh Lawson had seven and six kills, respectively.

BHS returned to action on Thursday and saw split results versus Hatton and Hackleburg. The Lady Bulldogs fell to Hatton 2-0 (11-25, 22-25) but turned the night around with a 2-0 (25-15, 25-15) triumph over the Lady Panthers.

Lilliana Willingham led the way for BHS with a combined eight kills in the tri-match to go along with 17 digs.

Phil Campbell suffered a tough week on the hardwood. The Lady Bobcats went 0-4 on the week, falling to Haleyville, Vinemont, and area foe Cold Springs twice.

The Lady Bobcats took on Cold Springs and Haleyville on Monday, dropping the match to Cold Springs 3-1 before dropping their game to Haleyville 2-0.

PCHS picked play back up on Thursday against Cold Springs and Vinemont and were swept in both—3-0 to CSHS and 2-0 to Vinemont.

Red Bay had just one match during the week, and it was against Waterloo. The Lady Tigers took care of business against WHS, sweeping 3-0 to earn another area win.

Russellville’s Blevyn Sappington, pictured with RHS head coach Madison Lamon, recorded her 1,000th career dig on September 22. (Russellville Volleyball/Facebook)

Russellville began its week on Tuesday with back-to-back defeats to West Morgan and Ardmore.

The Lady Golden Tigers fell to West Morgan 2-0 (12-25, 17-25) and Ardmore 2-1 (28-26, 16-25, 10-15), but there was one big highlight for RHS: Junior outside hitter Blevyn Sappington recorded her 1,000th career dig. In the tri-match Sappington also had 11 kills, four aces and two blocks.

RHS rebounded from Tuesday's losses with a big area win over Florence on Thursday. The Lady Golden Tigers beat the Lady Falcons 3-1 (25-21, 25-18, 21-25, 25-15) to improve to 17-18 overall and 2-2 in area action.

Sappington led RHS with 13 kills, 16 digs and a block in the victory; Bri McCulloch added 15 digs and 18 assists and Alexia Groce, on her senior night, contributed 10 assists and 17 digs. Bella Malone had eight blocks.

Russellville is scheduled to resume play on Thursday, October 1, with an away match at Muscle Shoals.

Tharptown went through an 0-2 week, falling to Central-Florence and Colbert Heights on Tuesday. The Lady Wildcats lost both matches by a final of 2-0.

Vina was scheduled to play one contest against Brilliant on Tuesday. No score has been reported.