The Russellville varsity volleyball team earned a big win in their home-opener on Aug. 31 versus the Alcorn Central Lady Bears from Glen, Miss.

RHS swept the Alcorn Central team 3-0 by scores of 25-23; 25-20 and 25-23. The loss dropped the Lady Bears’ record to 15-3 on the season. Russellville’s senior outside hitter, Natalie Nichols, led the way to victory with 13 kills and 12 digs. Avery Watts added seven kills while both Laila Hill and Blevyn Sappington had six kills each.

Setter Fatima Ramirez had 12 assists and seven digs and Alexia Groce had 13 assists along with six digs. Emma Campbell of RHS had six digs and three aces. The Russellville offense had a total of 31 kills as a unit. Defensively, the Lady Golden Tigers registered six blocks and 57 digs.

The win improved Russellville’s record to 4-5 on the season after a busy stretch of matches that included wins in the Alcorn Central Tournament on Aug. 26 over Walnut and North Pontotoc along with losses to Belmont and Kossuth. On Aug. 29, RHS traveled to Brewer High School and fell in the first area match of the season to the Lady Patriots and also dropped a match to non-area opponent Hartselle.

Russellville’s win over Alcorn Central is quite impressive considering the Lady Bears are historically one of the top teams in the Magnolia State. “That was a great win for our program,” RHS head coach Will White said. “Alcorn Central came in here 15-2 and their losses were to top-notch programs in the state of Mississippi. They are defending 3A state runner-up, they won the state championship two years ago; it’s a great program.”

The win in the first home match of the season over a talented opponent was a confidence builder for the Lady Golden Tigers. “We had a tough day at Brewer,” White shared. “We came in the next day and stayed positive in practice and worked on some things that we needed to work on and, apparently, we worked on the right stuff.”