Alexandria, AL – Alexandria pulls down top seed for county volleyball tournament, spirited debate for the next three spots
Alexandria, the defending champions and undefeated within the county this season, pulled down the No. 1 seed in the Calhoun County Volleyball Tournament today. The tournament is Oct. 1 at Wellborn with the finals Oct. 3 at Jacksonville State. The Lady Cubs (25-8, 9-0) were followed in the top four by Donoho (18-6, 5-1); Ohatchee (19-3, 4-1); and Pleasant Valley (15-6, 6-2). They won’t play Ohatchee or Donoho until next week and have played PV twice.
“Obviously, our girls are excited to be the top seed, but we know we have a lot of work to do,” said Kelli Johnson, the Lady Cubs’ acting coach with head coach Whitney Welch on maternity leave. “There are multiple talented teams in this county and we have to work hard between now and then to defend our title. “We’re still trying to find some consistency. We’re winning, but we’re not playing at the level we need to be playing at.” Alexandria defeated Donoho in last year’s final 3-1 for its third county title in four years. Welch is expected to rejoin the Lady Cubs before the start of the county tournament.
There was spirited debate for the next three seeds behind the Lady Cubs. Donoho earned the nod for the 2 on the strength of road victories over both PV and Ohatchee. “I thought that was a really big win for us on the road like that,” Donoho coach Anna Taylor said of the PV victory that avenged a tournament loss over the weekend. “I think the 2-3-4 spot will be a highly contested spot. We have not played Alexandria yet — I’ve not gotten to see them in any capacity yet, so I don’t know what their team is like — but I do know those semifinal games across the board will be some close competition and a really good indicator of who belongs in the finals Monday night.”
Ohatchee and Pleasant Valley haven’t played, but the Lady Indians had the edge over common opponents. “We’re happy with it (the seeding),” Ohatchee coach Rebecca Hughes said. “We’re excited to hopefully show out in the county tournament this year. I believe my girls are capable of taking it all, so who knows? Maybe this will be our year to win it.”
Varsity seeds: Alexandria, Donoho, Ohatchee, Pleasant Valley, Jacksonville, Piedmont, Wellborn, Oxford, Faith Christian, White Plains, Weaver, JCA, Anniston Saks.
Junior High seeds: Oxford, Ohatchee, Pleasant Valley, Alexandria, Weaver, Faith Christian, Jacksonville, Donoho, White Plains, Wellborn, JCA, Piedmont, Saks.
CALHOUN COUNTY VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT
(Overall, county records as of Sept. 14)
Oct. 1 at Wellborn
Game 1: No. 13 Anniston (0-6, 0-3) vs. No. 12 JCA (2-5, 1-2), 8 a.m.
Game 2: No. 11 Weaver (4-15, 2-6) vs. No. 14 Saks (0-13, 0-5), 8 a.m.
Game 3: No. 8 Oxford (10-12, 5-5) vs. No. 9 Faith Christian (8-11, 4-5), 8 a.m.
Game 4: Game 1 winner vs. No. 5 Jacksonville (13-13, 4-6), 9:30 a.m.
Game 5: Game 2 winner vs. No. 6 Piedmont (7-6, 6-5), 9:30 a.m.
Game 6: No. 7 Wellborn (13-9, 7-4) vs. No. 10 White Plains (7-16, 5-10), 9:30 a.m.
Game 7: Game 3 winner No. 1 Alexandria (25-8, 9-0), 11 a.m.
Game 8: Game 4 winner vs. No. 4 Pleasant Valley (15-6, 6-2), 11 a.m.
Game 9: Game 5 winner vs. No. 3 Ohatchee (19-3, 4-1), 12:30 p.m.
Game 10: Game 6 winner vs. No. 2 Donoho (18-6, 5-1), 12:30 p.m.
Game 11: Semifinals: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 2 p.m.
Game 12: Semifinals: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 2 p.m.
Oct. 3 at Jacksonville State
Championship Game
