Tharptown’s varsity volleyball team picked up a pair of impressive wins on Monday in Leighton, beating Class 3A Colbert County 2-1 and Class 3A Lauderdale County 2-1.
In their first match against host Colbert County, the Lady Wildcats dropped the opening set 26-24 before bouncing back to win the second set 28-26. They edged the Lady Indians 15-13 in the third and final set to take the match.
“After coming off such a close game with Belgreen, we really started off slowly,” THS coach Tracey Fretwell said. “It took us a while to get warmed up. Once we got focused, the girls really picked up their effort.”
Setter MaKensy Hester led the way for the Lady Wildcats, recording 50 assists, four aces and six incredible digs. Setter Kasey McCormack had 60 assists, and sophomore Adriana Borden recorded nine kills. Sophomore Brooke Daily added eight kills and five digs, and sophomore Annslee Bottoms had two kills and four digs.
Seniors Breanna Gasque and Ameliah Dawson combined for nine kills and five aces, and junior Erica Gray chipped in with five aces, four kills and two game-changing saves.
In their second match of the day against Lauderdale County, the Lady Wildcats took the first set 25-22 before dropping the second set 25-23. Tharptown then dominated the third set, taking the match with a 15-8 win.
“Lauderdale County came out really strong in that second set,” Fretwell said, “and it made me nervous. We really started blocking better in this match, and I think that made all the difference. There’s nothing like the feeling of blocking a hard spike. It really gets the momentum going."
Daily led the way against LCHS with 10 kills, three aces, two blocks and three digs. Hester recorded 42 assists and three digs, and McCormack had 32 assists and two kills. Gray recorded six assists, four kills and three digs.
Borden finished with three kills, five blocks and two digs. Senior Cara Ergle had a strong service match with 20 good serves, and her sister Olivia Ergle recorded 20 assists. Dawson had three kills and six blocks, and Gasque added four aces, two kills and two blocks.
Tharptown traveled to Hackleburg on Tuesday for a tri-match with the Lady Panthers and Lynn. The Lady Wildcats will host Colbert County on Thursday.
