Hartselle’s Megan Zuck and teammate attempt to block a ball in a game in the area championship. | Caleb Suggs

Hartselle finishes runner up in regionals as Tigers and Danville advance to State

Caleb Suggs

Hartselle Enquirer

It was a moment of jubilation for the Hartselle Tigers volleyball team last Fri., October 21^st as the third ranked Tigers knocked off John Carroll Catholic. This was a special win for Hartselle as it not only punched their ticket to state but it ended a curse of losing to John Carroll. The Cavaliers had knocked the Tigers out of state in each of the past two seasons. Now the Tigers have laid that demon to rest and set their eyes on the State Championship.

Hartselle opened up the Regional tournament with a dominating win over Gardendale by sweeping the Rockets in three sets (25-7, 25-14 and 25-15).

The Tigers then continued their streak by sweeping John Carroll (25-17, 25-22 and 26-24) along with the Walker Vikings (25-23, 25-21 and 25-14), which set up a championship match with top ranked Hazel Green. The Tigers had already met the Trojans twice this season with each team taking a win a piece. Hartselle dropped the first set in a highly competitive match 26-24. The Tigers came back to tie the match with a 25-22 win before dropping the last two sets, 25-23 and 25-19, to lose the match. Hartselle still has a chance of redemption against the Trojans but it would have to come in the finals of the State tournament. Both teams drew opposite sides of the bracket for the quarterfinals. Megan Zuck led the Tigers with 57 kills and 65 digs while Maggie Anderson finished with 61 digs and Hayden Hanserd with 43 kills. Jordan Finn had 33 kills to go with 52 digs. Gabrielle Bili finished with 139 assists. Hartselle will play Hillcrest Tuscaloosa Fri. 0ct. 26 in the State Tournament at the Birmingham Crossplex at 9:30 a.m.

The Danville Hawks also advanced to the State tournament by sweeping White Plains (25-10, 25-20 and 25-12) and Leeds (25-6, 25-15 and 25-19). The Hawks lost to Madison Academy 3-0 but came back to defeat Deshler (25-22, 24-26, 25-18 and 25-11) to finish in third place. Danville will play Alabama Christian Wed. Oct. 26 at 12:30 p.m.

The Morgan County champion Brewer Patriot’s season ended when the Pats lost to Hazel Green (25-13, 25-13 and 25-17). The Patriots had advanced to the Quarterfinals upsetting Homewood (27-29, 25-14, 26-24 and 25-19)

Both Priceville and Falkville’s seasons ended in the first round with Priceville losing to Jacksonville and Falkville losing to Ranburne.