RHS advances to volleyball super regional

The Russellville High School volleyball team earned one of the biggest wins in program history as the Golden Tigers defeated the Lawrence County Red Devils in the Class 5A, Area 15 tournament championship.

Russellville hosted the area tournament on Oct. 16. The Golden Tigers received a first-round bye, which was clinched when the Golden Tigers won first place in the regular season area standings.

Lawrence County advanced to the area tournament title game with a first-round win over West Point.

The area tournament championship game was won by Russellville 3-1 by scores of 15-25, 25-17, 25-18 and 25-21 in front of an energetic crowd led by the RHS student section. With the victory, the Golden Tigers improved their record to 40-15 on season, advancing to the Class 5A North Super Regional, which will be held at the Finley Center in Hoover. Russellville’s Laila Hill, Fatima Ramirez, Bri McCulloch and Blevyn Sappington received All-Area honors at the conclusion of the area championship match. Hill and Ramirez are seniors while McCulloch and Sappington are sophomores.

McCulloch has already set the school record for most digs in a season and most digs in a career.

During the win over Lawrence County, Hill led RHS with 15 kills and Sappington had 14. Ramirez had 20 assists and Alexia Groce added 13. McCulloch had 27 digs, Sappington added 17, Ramirez had 12 and Erin Grimes collected 11.

Bella Malone led the team with two blocks, and Sappington had two aces to lead the squad.

“After that first set, they showed that grit,” head coach Madison Lamon said of her team, which has shown that same characteristic all season long. “When you face adversity, a lot of teams normally want to shut off. I think that gives my group a little more power. They want it and you can tell they want it by how they come together after every point and they cheer for each other even after mistakes.”