Hartselle goes 2-2 in Spain Park tourney
Class 5A No. 3 Hartselle split with the four teams it played at the Dig in the Park Volleyball Tournament at Spain Park on Saturday.
The team lost its opening match against Pelham 25-21, 25-19 but won the next two matches before getting eliminated by Montgomery Academy 23-25, 25-11, 15-10.
The two wins improved the Lady Tigers’ record to 38-18.
“We’re still not playing at the level of consistency we need to,” said Hartselle head coach Tanya Lybager. “For example, in the loss to Montgomery Academy, we played strong and won the first game and then turned around and let the next two games slip away. That’s been something we’ve struggled with all along and certainly need to correct before we get into the playoffs.”
In their two wins, the Lady Tigers thumped Chelsea 25-11, 25-17 and Vestavia 25-20, 25-16.
Leading the Lady Tigers was Olivia Golden with 23 kills, 40 digs and seven aces. Taylor Lybarger added 21 kills, 17 digs and two blocks, Katelyn Hill had 20 kills, 10 digs, two assists and six blocks and Kaylee Shelton had 15 kills, two assists, four digs and seven blocks. Other scorers were Savanne Howard, 40 digs and an ace; Haley Jared, 11 kills, two assists, three digs and two blocks; Elizabeth Russell, 29 digs and an ace; Sarah Ellen Battles, 16 digs, an assist and two aces; and Tori Miller, four digs and three aces.
HHS beat Addison, Bob Jones
Hartselle came up with perhaps their two biggest wins of the season at senior night on Sept. 27.
The Lady Tigers defeated Class 1A No. 2 Addison 25-15, 25-27, 15-13, a team they lost to earlier in the season, and Class 6A No. 4 Bob Jones 25-22, 25-19.
Statistical leaders for Hartselle were Golden with 17 kills, 18 digs, five aces and two blocks, Hill with 16 kills, 19 digs, an assist and a block, Howard with 63 assists, 10 digs, an ace and a block, Lybarger with 14 kills, 15 digs and a block and Shelton with 13 kills, a dig and five blocks.
Other stat leaders were Jared with eight kills, four digs and a block; Battles with nine digs, an assist and an ace; and Russell with seven digs and two aces.
Hartselle claims area title
Hartselle completed a perfect run against area opponents by defeating Cullman 25-23, 25-15, 25-16 on Sept. 29. The win enabled the Lady Tigers to improve their record to 6-0 in the area.
Shelton led the team in kills with 12 and also had a dig and a block. Golden had 11 kills, 12 digs, five aces and a block.
Other scorers were Hill, three kills, nine digs and three blocks, Howard, 30 assists, two kills, six digs and a block; Russell, 11 digs and an ace, Lybarger, six kills, four digs and a block; Jared, five kills, an ace and two blocks; Miller, a dig and three aces; and Battles. six digs and an ace.
