The 2020 volleyball season came to an end for the Russellville Golden Tigers with a 3-0 loss to the Madison Academy Mustangs in the opening game of the Class 5A, Area 15 tournament Oct, 14 at Lawrence County High School in Moulton.

Madison Academy started the afternoon with a 25-10 first set win and finished off the sweep by scores of 25-15 and 25-17 over the Golden Tigers.

Caroline Sparks of RHS was chosen as all-area, and she had eight kills, four assists, three blocks and five digs. Abby Green added two kills, two aces and eight assists. Jenna Whitfield had an ace and six digs, while Leah Rushing had 10 digs and Olivia Gann added five.

“I love this group of girls; they were seventh- and eighth-graders when I came in,” Russellville head coach Whitney Glover said. “I have a lot of juniors on this team. They were eighth-graders, and they told me what they wanted – and of course, this is not the way we wanted the season to end, but they’ve never quit. Every single game, they’ve worked hard. They get down a little bit, but they never quit on the game, and they keep playing as hard as they can.

“They’ve got a lot to learn, but I’ve got everybody back but one kid next year.”

Before the area tournament, the Lady Golden Tigers wrapped up the regular season with a 3-0 win over the Hamilton Lady Aggies with scores of 25-21, 25-22 and 25-17.