Hartselle volleyball opens season
The 6A No. 10 Hartselle Lady Tigers opened the 2021 season by hosting 2A No. 31 Addison and 7A No. 4 Sparkman Thursday evening.
In the opening match, the Lady Tigers fell to Addison 2-0 (18-25, 20-25). Hartselle jumped out to a one-set lead against Sparkman but saw the Lady Senators come back from a 13-6 deficit in the second set to win and then take the third.
Sparkman dropped the Lady Tigers 2-1 (25-18, 22-25, 11-15).
Megan Lee led the Lady Tigers with 34 assists and 21 digs, while Jadyn Chesser had 17 kills, five digs and two blocks. KJ Jones had 28 digs and two aces. Lydia Simmons had 10 kills. Lydia Simmons added eight kills, and Katie Gillot had seven kills.
Juanita Boddie Tournament
Hartselle traveled to Hoover Saturday to compete in the powerhouse Juanita Boddie Tournament. The tournament provides a measuring stick to see where a program is in the season’s first week.
Hartselle opened the tournament in pool play with wins over Houston Academy 2-0 (25-17, 25-13) and Guntersville 2-0 (25-22, 25-21). The Tigers suffered losses to Cherokee Bluff, Georgia, 2-1 (19-25, 25-23, 11-15) and 5A No. 1 Bayside Academy 2-0 (10-25, 17-25).
The Lady Tigers fell to 6A No. 7 Athens 2-0 (25-27, 20-25) in bracket play.
Megan Lee had 55 assists and 16 digs to lead the Lady Tigers. Jadyn Chesser had 27 kills, 14 digs and eight aces, while Lydia Simmons had 18 kills and 12 aces.
Hartselle (2-5) played Guntersville Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. and hosts a quad-match with Decatur, Austin and Bob Jones Thursday beginning at 4:30. The team will travel to Guntersville Saturday for the second tournament of the season.