Below is a round-up of all the Franklin County varsity volleyball action from September 8-13:

Belgreen started its week on Monday, September 8, against Cherokee, beating the Lady Indians in three straight sets (25-12, 25-20, 25-20). Senior Carson Hovater had eight kills, junior Lilliana Willingham had eight kills and 11 digs, senior Alayna Tate had 11 assists and six digs, junior Madalyn LeMay had seven assists, senior Bryn Scott had eight digs, and junior Madison McKee had nine digs in that contest.

The following day, Tuesday, the Lady Bulldogs hosted Tharptown in an area matchup; Belgreen lost to THS 3-1 (20-25, 25-21, 18-25, 15-25). That result dropped the Lady Bulldogs to 0-2 in Class 2A Area 14. In the defeat, Hovater finished with 14 kills and eight digs, Willingham had eight kills and eight digs, Tate recorded 13 assists and eight digs, Scott had 30 digs, and senior Audree West had 13 digs.

BHS wrapped the week by hosting its Bulldog Bash tournament and winning that tourney. All three BHS teams—the junior high, junior varsity, and varsity—ended up winning their respective tournaments, in fact. In pool play, the varsity Lady Bulldogs defeated Colbert Heights 2-1 (24-26, 25-19, 15-11) and Colbert County 2-0 (25-15, 25-21). Belgreen beat Red Bay 2-0 (25-19, 25-19) in the final to win the tournament. Combined for the entire three games of the tourney, Hovater finished with 22 kills, Willingham had 21 kills and 27 digs, and Tate had 67 assists. Against Colbert Heights and Red Bay, Randi Terry had 11 digs each match, while Scott ended with 14 digs against CHHS and 13 digs vs. Red Bay.

The Lady Bulldogs also had a crossover match against Tharptown on Saturday. BHS won 2-0 (25-16, 25-8). Hovater had eight kills, Willingham had six kills and five digs, Alayna Tate recorded 16 assists and six digs, and Scott had nine digs.

Belgreen’s next match will be an area contest against Covenant Christian on Tuesday, September 16.

Phil Campbell took on Class 3A Area 15 foe Sheffield on Tuesday, September 9, and came away with a 3-0 (25-11, 25-13, 25-17) victory to improve to 1-1 in area play.

The Lady Bobcats continued play on Thursday with matches against Colbert Heights and Lexington. PCHS fell to area foe Colbert Heights 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 16-25, 18-25) to drop to 1-2 in Area 15. Against the Lady Bears, Phil Campbell lost 2-0 (22-25, 16-25).

PCHS finished out the week at a tournament at Muscle Shoals High School. In pool play the Lady Bobcats lost to Deshler 2-0 (10-25, 13-25), Chelsea 2-0 (20-25, 7-25), and Winston County 2-0 (11-25, 9-25). In the knockout rounds, PCHS defeated Clay-Chalkville 2-1 (25-13, 20-25, 15-12) before losing to Loretto (TN) in two sets 17-25, 13-25.

Phil Campbell’s next matches will be played at home against Colbert County and Hackleburg on Tuesday, September 16.

Red Bay started its week on Monday at state-line rival Belmont (MS). The Lady Tigers fell to the Lady Cardinals by a final score of 3-0.

Then on Thursday, September 11, the Lady Tigers hosted Class 2A Area 10 opponent Sulligent. That match was a five-set thriller that Red Bay came up just short in, 3-2. After being railroaded in the first set 25-13, the Lady Tigers showed some grit in set two as they came from behind to win 26-24. Down 13-5 early, RBHS surged late, cutting Sulligent’s lead to 23-22 and then took 3 of the last five points to take the set.

The tables were turned on Red Bay in set three. The Lady Tigers had a 17-11 advantage, but the Lady Blue Devils went on a run to take a first-time 19-18 lead late. SHS went on to win the third set 25-20 to make it 2-1, visitors.

Red Bay and Sulligent swapped the final two sets. RBHS, after a hot start in the fourth set, went on to win the set 25-20 and tie the match 2-2. In the tiebreaker, Red Bay took an initial 7-1 lead but in the first-to-15 final set Sulligent made a 14-5 run to win the match.

To end the week, on Saturday, September 13, RBHS participated in Belgreen’s Bulldog Bash tournament. In pool play, Red Bay defeated Waterloo 2-1, Cherokee 2-0, Colbert County 2-0, and Tharptown 2-0 to advance to the tournament championship. The Lady Tigers finished runner-up after falling to the Lady Bulldogs 2-0 (19-25, 19-25) in the final.

Up next, Red Bay will travel to Russellville on Tuesday for a tri-match against RHS and Haleyville.

Russellville opened its week on Tuesday with a road area match at West Point. The Lady Golden Tigers took down WPHS 3-1 (25-15, 19-25, 25-23, 25-22) to improve to 1-1 in Class 5A Area 15 action and 18-5 overall. Bella Malone and Laila Hill led the RHS attack with 12 kills each, libero Bri McCulloch finished with a team-high 31 digs, Blevyn Sappington had seven kills and 15 digs, and senior Fatima Ramirez had 16 digs and 16 assists in the game. Malone also had four blocks.

On Thursday, RHS traveled to East Lawrence to take on the hosts and Lauderdale County. The Lady Golden Tigers fell to Lauderdale County 2-0 (21-25, 23-25) and defeated East Lawrence 2-1 (25-21, 25-27, 15-9) to improve to 19-6 on the season. Hill combined for 15 kills in the two matches, McCulloch had 26 digs, and Alexia Groce recorded a team-high 19 assists.

Russellville’s next match will be on Monday, September 15, at Covenant Christian.

Tharptown began its week on Tuesday with a big win over area and county rival Belgreen, defeating the Lady Bulldogs 3-1 (25-20, 21-25, 25-18, 25-15).

The Lady Wildcats concluded their week with more games at Belgreen by participating in the Bulldog Bash. THS defeated Cherokee 2-0 (25-19, 25-23) and Waterloo 2-1 (13-25, 25-16, 16-14) before losing to the eventual tournament champs Belgreen 2-0 (16-25, 8-25) and Red Bay 2-0 (21-25, 22-25).

THS will travel to play its next matches at Rogers High School on Tuesday. The Lady Wildcats will face Rogers and Florence.