Belgreen, Tharptown to face each other in area tournament
By Bart Moss for the FCT
The Belgreen Bulldogs and Tharptown Wildcats have met each other several times during the regular volleyball season. Monday they will face off one more time in the area tournament.
The tournament will be held at Phillips High School, the winner of 1A, Area 13.
Belgreen, with an overall record of 18-13, finished second in the area with a 4-2 record, with their only losses being against area winner Phillips.
Bulldog coach Teresa Whitten said her team her team might be gelling at the right time.
“We have had several ups and downs this season with injuries and overall performance,” said Whitten. “But over the last couple of weeks, the team has really started to show improvements in all areas of the game, especially in mental growth.”
With the bulk of Belgreen’s starters being sophomores and freshmen, Whitten said she likes her team’s chances down the stretch.
“We are a young team, but I feel like we are peaking at the right time,” she said. “Our focus is to forget everything before now and focus 100 percent on doing our jobs.”
The Belgreen volleyball team racked up some wins recently as the regular season came to a close.
The varsity team played Hackleburg last Monday, winning in three straight sets.
Both the JV and varsity teams played at Belmont, Miss., Tuesday night. The JV Bulldogs won 2-1, securing an undefeated season. The JV was led by Bailey Oliver, who had 10 kills, 20 digs and six aces against the Cardinals.
This is the first volleyball team to go undefeated at Belgreen.
The varsity won 3-1 against Belmont, a team that went to the Elite 8 in Mississippi last year. In both matches, sophomore Katie Dempsey had 26 kills, five aces and three assists.
Emma Dempsey, the Bulldog middle hitter, won the AL.com North Alabama Player of the Week last week for her play on the court. It was her second time to be nominated along with teammate Autumn Bragwell. Dempsey had 26 kills, two blocks, five digs and six aces.
The Bulldogs face Tharptown Monday in the area tournament at Phillips.
Tharptown Lady Wildcats, with an area record of 2-4, are trying to steady themselves after a roller coaster season.
“This has been a season of ups and downs for us emotionally and physically,” said Tharptown coach Tracey Fretwell. “They’ve worked really hard all summer and into the season. We’ve played schools we’ve never played before this season and have done pretty well with most of them.”
Like Belgreen, Tharptown is a young team looking to the future.
“We are still a young team consisting mostly of sophomores, so the future is looking really good for us,” said Fretwell.
