The Russellville varsity volleyball team had a successful tri-match Sept. 3 versus Belgreen and Hamilton to get their first wins of 2019.

The Lady Golden Tigers took on Belgreen at RHS and defeated the Bulldogs 2-1. Russellville dropped the first game of the match 24-26 but recovered to take the next two games by scores of 25-22 and 15-7.

Lexie Glass had nine kills, three blocks and three digs, while Callie Palmer added 10 kills, two aces and three blocks for RHS.  

Briana Ramirez saw her first action of the season after recovering from an ankle injury, and she had 10 digs and four aces. 

Krista Sikes was also deadly with the serve, picking up eight aces. She also racked up 17 assists, while Leah Rushing pitched in with seven.  

Alivia Clemmons added 15 digs and three kills in the winning effort.

“I’m super proud of the girls,” said Russellville head coach Whitney Glover. “We had a bad game last week against Belgreen, and they didn’t play like they were capable of playing – and they knew they didn’t play like they were capable of playing. 

“They came in and practiced hard the next day, and we went to a tournament last weekend. We didn’t win any of our games, but we had one of the hardest pools there.  They played amazing, and every game was pretty close, so it was a turning point for them.”

In the first Class 5A, Area 14 match of the season, Russellville took down the Hamilton Lady Aggies in a 3-0 sweep.

RHS won by scores of 25-14, 25-19 and 25-15. Caroline Sparks had three aces, five digs and five kills, while Alivia Clemmons picked up two aces, 10 kills and six digs.  

Sikes had five aces, 19 assists and five digs, and Glass added seven kills, two blocks and four digs.  

Palmer pitched in with seven kills and two blocks, while Rushing totaled 11 assists and eight digs. Ramirez rounded out the stats with nine digs and an ace.

Sept. 5, RHS traveled to Moulton and took on Lawrence County and Jasper. The Lady Golden Tigers dropped an area match to the Lady Devils of LCHS by scores of 14-25, 15-25 and 9-25.

Chalea Clemmons and Sparks had four kills each, while Glass had five and Palmer had three. Ramirez had 13 digs, and Alivia Clemmons had six. Sikes added 10 digs and three assists, while Rushing had three digs and eight assists.

Russellville (2-8, 1-1) fell to Jasper 15-25 and 9-25.