Long-distance rematch
- Updated: September 19, 2020
Jacksonville trims Alexandria in 3 sets to win Brooks Invitational, Donoho sweeps its tournament
By East Alabama Sports Today
KILLEN – Jacksonville avenged a loss earlier in the week, shook the Calhoun County Tournament seedings a little and snapped a six-match losing streak in the series when it beat Alexandria 2-1 Saturday to win the Gold Bracket championship of the Brooks Invitational.
The Lady Golden Eagles, seeded No. 2 behind the Lady Cubs in the upcoming County Tournament, won 25-18, 19-25, 15-9. They lost to the Lady Cubs in three sets Monday night and had to go 145 miles to get even with a rival that’s only eight miles away.
Alexandria had not lost a set in beating Haleyville, Brooks, Oneonta and Curry on its road to the tournament finals.
The Lady Cubs had won the last six meetings with Jacksonville going back to the 2018 County Tournament quarterfinals. The teams met four times last season, including the semifinals of this tournament.
“(The match) was very similar to Monday’s game, we just had fewer errors,” Jacksonville coach David Clark said. He lamented Monday the team made to many errors in the second set that forced the tiebreaker.
“It was a good match, like on Monday,” Alexandria’s Whitney Welch agreed. “We missed key serves in Game 3 and have to put the ball away better.”
Like Alexandria, the Lady Golden Eagles didn’t drop a set until the finals, defeating Central Florence (25-20, 25-14); Ramsey (27-25, 25-12); Brooks (25-16, 25-23); and Deshler in the semifinals (25-14, 25-19).
Kayla Broom had 61 kills, 21 blocks and 29 digs in the tournament. Brenna Stone had 56 kills, 31 digs and nine blocks. Aly Harris had 26 kills and nine blocks. Lexie Callahan had nine aces and Molly Wilson had 116 assists.
Jordan Beason, who came up big so many times late in the third set of the first meeting, had nine kills for Alexandria in the Jacksonville match. Kandyn Blankenship had seven kills and Lexi Weber six. Sarah Pelham had 10 digs, Blakenship had nine, and Anna Johnson had 23 assists and 10 digs.
The teams meet again in a power night of volleyball Sept. 28 when all of the top three County Tournament seeds meet in Jacksonville.
JACKSONVILLE STATISTICS
(5-match totals)
KILLS – Molly Wilson 8, Kayla Broom 61, Brenna Stone 56, Caitlin Clark 8, Aly Harris 26, Jules Grass 1.
ACES – Molly Wilson 2, Kayla Broom 1, Brenna Stone 4, Caitlin Clark 5, Lexie Callahan 9, Bailee Pritchett 1.
ASSISTS – Molly Wilson 116, Abby Wilcek 2, Kayla Broom 3, Brenna Stone 1, Caitlin Clark 5, Natalie Patterson 2.
DIGS – Molly Wilson 5, Kayla Broom 29, Brenna Stone 31, Caitlin Clark 23, Lexie Callahan 26, Bailee Pritchett 16.
BLOCKS – Molly Wilson 3, Kayla Broom 21, Brenna Stonee 9, Caitlin Clark 1, Aly Harris 9, Chloe Fuller 1.
ALEXANDRIA STATISTICS
(5-match totals)
KILLS – Jordan Beason 38, Anna Johnson 7, Lexi Weber 41, TyShica Woodgett 11, Kandyn Blankenship 19, Blakeley Mobbs 1, Kaylee Smith 1, Rylee Gattis 12, Crossley Sparks 1.
ACES – Jordan Beason 5, Anna Johnson 3, Sarah Pelham 3, Lexi Weberr 3, Kandyn Blankenship 1, Jolie Weathington 1, Kaylee Smith 7.
ASSISTS – Anna Johnson 100, Sarah Pelham 3, Lexi Weber 1.
DIGS – Jordan Beason 22, Anna Johnson 29, Sarah Pelham 51, Lexi Weber 3, TyShica Woodgett 2, Kandyn Blankenship 42, Jolie Weathington 9, Kaylee Smith 14, Rylee Gattis 2.
BLOCKS – Lexi Weber 5, TyShica Woodgett 5, Kaylee Smith 1, Rylee Gattis 8.
Lady Falcons win own event
DONOHO CLASSIC
Pool play
Donoho 2, White Plains 0 (25-10, 25-12)
Meek 2, Decatur Heritage 0 (25-20, 25-23)
Meek 2, White Plains 1 (26-24, 22-25, 15-13)
Donoho 2, Decatur Heritage 0 (25-10, 25-20)
Donoho 2, Meek 0 (25-12, 25-18)
Semifinals
White Plains 2, Meek 0 (25-16, 25-11)
Donoho 2, Decatur Heritage 1 (25-16, 20-25, 15-12)
Championship
Donoho 2, White Plains 0 (25-13, 25-10)
Donoho won its second tournament of the season and got a chance to see two of the teams it figures to encounter in the Class 1A regional and state tournaments down the road, so it was a win-win.
The Lady Falcons won their abbreviated Donoho Classic, beating White Plains in the finals 25-13, 25-10. They also beat the Lady Wildcats and Meek in pool play and Decatur Heritage twice. White Plains gained the finals by beating Meek 25-16, 25-11.
“It’s just good for them to get some wins,” Donoho coach Jamie Clendenin said. “I think it’s important to see them and know you can beat them. Last year we were fortunate to see the people we saw in the (state) semifinals and finals before we beat them beforehand and it gave them confidence they can win.”
Clendenin may have inadvertently provided Decatur Heritage a glimmer of that confidence with the way he handled the lead in the second set of the semifinals. The Lady Falcons were up comfortably, then Clendenin made some adjustments and the Lady Eagles rallied to force a third set.
“We put two hitters in who hadn’t been playing that much,” he said. “They did fine, then we changed setters, and when you make too many changes, it’s not good. Having the same setter is fine. Ever since I’ve coached when you have somebody designated as your setter and you make that change it always looks awful.
“In the grand scheme of things, we gave Decatur Heritage confidence they could beat us because of my stupidity and I wanted to show what we’re capable of doing.”
The tournament traditionally draws some of the top 1A teams in the region to its 16-team field, but this year was reduced to four teams in one gym for COVID-19 considerations.
DONOHO STATISTICS
(5-match totals)
KILLS – Mary Marshall Perry 7, Mercy Mangum 12, Maggie Wakefield 25, Lily Grace Draper 27, Estella Connell 9, Yana Osovska 1, Ansley Simmons 4.
ACES – Mercy Mangum 2, Lily Grace Draper 10, naira Rehman 4, Ayesha Siddiqua 8, Maggie Miller 5, Yana Osovska 1.
ASSISTS – Mercy Mangum 1, Maggie Miller 46, Ayesha Siddiqua 4, Naira Rehman 1, Sam Wakefield 6.
DIGS – Lily Grace Draper 4, Mercy Mangum 8, Sam Wakefield 30, Sarah Waggoner 27, Naira Rehman 22, Ayesha Siddiqua 12, Maggie Miller 11.
BLOCKS – Estella Connell 3, Maggie Wakefield 4, Mary Marshall Perry 4.
Husky Challenge
HUSKY CHALLENGE
At Hewitt-Trussville
Gardendale 2, Oxford 0 (25-17, 25-12)
Chelsea 2, Oxford 1 (18-25, 25-15, 15-6)
Thompson 2, Oxford 0 (25-16, 25-17)
Oxford 2, Woodlawn 0 (25-23, 25-19)
Helena 2, Oxford 1 (25-14, 18-25, 15-9)
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