ARLEY, Ala. — The Addison Lady Bulldogs traveled about ten miles south to participate in a volleyball tri-meet hosted by the number 5 team in 1A Meek Lady Tigers and the Cold Springs Lady Eagles. It just so happens that Addison is the number 1 team in 1A and is off to a blistering start to their season. Their only loss came at the hands of #10 in 6A Hartselle. Addison dominated the match as they swept Cold Springs 25-6 and 25-8. Addison then won the meet as they swept Meek 25-13, 25-15 and 25-12. Meek opened the tournament by defeating Cold Springs 25-16, 25-20.
Addison’s game with Cold Springs started out with Addison leading 4-2 when Katie Barrett, who by the way turns 17 tomorrow (Happy Birthday Katie), started her serve and connected on 6 consecutive points to pull Addison out front 10-2. The Lady Eagles, who are much improved from last year, settled down and went back and forth with the Lady Dawgs making the score 12-6. Dacey “LU LU” Baker took the serve and showed that she not only can crush the ball at the net but that she is an excellent server. Baker finished the set off by reeling in 13 straight points to propel Addison to a 25-6 win. Barrett had several aces on her serve and Baker had numerous kills at the net. Hadley Butler had a gaggle of assists and Bailee Ory had several digs.
The second set started out with Lauryn Cunningham getting the Lady Bulldogs off to a wonderful start. Miss Cunningham got Addison a 6-0 start and they never looked back. Addison led 9-3 when Baker blistered a ball that looked like it dented the hardwood floor. The game Lady Eagles cut the lead to 13-5 and that is when Bailee Ory showed that she not only could play excellent defense but serve the ball as well. Ory served for seven consecutive points to put the game out of reach, 20-5. The Lady Eagles refused to quit and went down fighting. Addison finished out the game with a 25-8 victory. Addison starts two eighth graders and that says a lot about the two young ladies who can start that young on a perennial championship team. Young ones Ava Bartlett and Annabeth Powell both look to have bright futures with the Lady Bulldogs and were solid contributors in these matches.
The game with Meek was what everyone was waiting on as two of the best teams, #1 against #5, in 1A and heated county rivals were about to square off. The first game had Meek jumping out to a 2-0 lead and was the first time that the Lady Bulldogs had trailed this evening. Cunningham served for five consecutive points to give Addison the 5-2 lead. The Lady Tigers would come back and take the next two to cut the lead to 5-4. Barrett served for five points to extend the lead to 10-4 and it continued Addison’s momentum as Meek took the next point but then Annabeth Powell served for the next three. Addison led 14-5 and it looked like Meek was done. Meek then composed themselves and went on a run themselves. Hitting several well-placed shots, Meek went on a 5 to 2 run to cut the lead to 16-10. Ory then refocused the Dawgs and served for 7 consecutive points to put them up 23-10. The game ended up 25-13 as Addison was just too much for the Lady Tigers in the first set.
The second set had Meek again jumping out to a 3-1 lead. The Lady Bulldogs then took 6 out of 7 points as Powell and Barrett led the team with several kills and blocks. After a single Lady Tiger point, Baker then went off for 8 straight points to take a 14-4 lead. Meek fought back winning 6 of the next 7 to cut the Lady Dawg lead to 15-10. Meek continued hitting several key shots and actually cut the lead to 19-15. Barrett then took control of the game to end it as she led the Dawgs to the final 6 points of the match to give the Lady Bulldogs the 25-15 win. Butler continued her assist assault and Baker and Barrett continued to murder the ball.
The final set again with Meek grabbing the early lead 3-1. Miss Barrett led the Dawgs back with four straight points and a 5-3 lead. Meek went on a mini run and tied the game up at 6. Baker and Ory made several tough shots to allow Addison to retake the lead, 10-6. Again, Meek didn’t back down as they fought back to within 12-9. After a quick timeout by Addison, they came out refocused and on fire. Cunningham and Barrett led a solid effort to expand the lead to 19-10. Meek nabbed two points to chop the lead to 19-12. Baker ended the game with her serve as they scored the final 6 points to put the very solid Meek Lady Tigers away 25-12.
Addison’s Head Coach Kaydi Woodard after the match,
“Very happy with the way we played. Had a few lapses in concentration but we are well on our way to becoming the type of team we want to be. This is a very young team, but I have great senior leadership. Meek is a quality opponent and Cold Springs is vastly improved from last year. So, to get away with two solid wins here will only help us to get better. “
Addison moves to 10-1 (1-0 area)
Official stats for the two matches
Digs; Baker 14, Ory 11, Cunningham 9 and Butler 6
Assists; Butler 36, Powell 4
Blocks; Bartlett and Butler 3, Mattie Johnson 2, Barrett 1
Kills; Baker 19, Barrett 10, Bartlett 9, Butler and Cunningham 7, Powell 2, Johnson 1
Aces; Barrett 7, Baker 4, Cunningham 3, Ory 2
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