ADDISON, Ala. — Perennial 1A volleyball power Addison hosted the 4A Danville Lady Hawks Tuesday night in what turned out to be a pretty decent match. Addison took the match in four sets, 17-25, 25-13, 25-14, 25-23.
The Addison ladies came out very, very sluggish in the opening set. The Lady Hawks were just quicker to the ball and seemed more focused starting out. Danville jumped out 4-1 behind solid net play and quality passing. AllieRuth Powell, a 6’ tall 7th grader for the Lady Dawgs, helped Addison take 5 of the next 7 points to tie it up at 6. AllieRuth happens to be AnnaBeth Powell’s “little” sister. Both teams split the next several points with the Lady Hawks beginning to take charge with the teams tied at 9. Danville took 9 of the next 11 points as it seemed that they were just more motivated to start. With Danville holding a commanding 18-11 lead Addison made a mini run to try and get back in the set. With “Baby” Powell serving, Addison cut the lead to 18-16. Danville then closed the deal, winning 25-17.
After what I assumed was a spirited pep talk by new Head Lady Dawg Sadie Hall, Addison came out playing with a new enthusiasm. Behind the serve of “Big” sister AnnaBeth Powell the Lady Dawgs jumped out 9-4. Addison all-star Ava Bartlett, another 6-foot front line player, dominated the net this set, as well as the rest of the match. There was a huge difference in the second set than the first as all the balls that were falling for the Lady Hawks earlier couldn’t find a hole in the Lady Dawg defense. The entire Dawg defense stepped up and behind the serves of Mattie Johnson and AnnaBeth Addison took the set, 25-13. Johnson finished it off with a blistering kill that almost took the hands off two Lady Hawk defenders.
The third set was the same as the second as Addison jumped out 10-3 and eventually improved the lead to 16-7. The teams basically swapped points the remainder as Addison finished off the Lady Hawks 25-14.
The final set was a nail biter as both teams went on several runs. Addison jumped out 8-3 behind Johnson and Bartlett. Danville came right back, cutting the lead to 10-7. After several exciting back and forth runs with some very long volleys mixed in, Addison held a 22-16 lead. Just when it seemed Addison was going to ground the Lady Hawks, they rattled off 5 straight to cut the lead to just one, 22-21. The last five points were alternated with Addison taking the final one and the win 25-23.
Addison Head Coach Sadie Hall,
“We definitely have some things to work on. We came out flat. We have some young players playing in some key roles and we are still trying to figure out who fits best at certain positions. I know when we play to our ability and with energy we are hard to contend with. We play bigger schools for the competition because I believe it helps us become a better all-around team.”
Addison may have one of the tallest teams in 1A with the Powell sisters and Bartlett at a solid six feet or better. Johnson isn’t quite as tall but can jump. All in all, they have exceptional height, especially for their classification.
Official stats
AnnaBeth led in assists with 4. Bartlett led in kills with 12. The Powell sisters had 6 kills each. Bartlett led in blocks with 4 and AllieRuth had 2. AllieRuth led in digs with 12. AnnaBeth had 10 digs while Bartlett had 2.
