Our 18-1 team traveled to Atlanta to play in the Southern Draw this weekend to open their club tournament season.  A 3 day Power tournament held in the Suwannee Sports Academy facility, it is a great way to start the season due to extended play time.   The young ladies found themselves in a tough opening day pool, playing the Club South National Team, A-5, and Atlanta Boom 18-1 teams.  With a young/inexperienced team, we had many learning opportunities, and played hard throughout the day.  Tape review that night proved very helpful, and the next day play was much improved.

On Sunday, the girls were constantly improving.  Defensively our play was much improved, and as a result our offense finally got a chance to get into action.  Hannah Akers lead the charge on offense with some tremendous kills from all over the court.  Two matches went to 3 games, but unfortunately we could not pull the wins out.

Monday found us in the Silver bracket, and the first game had everyone thinking it was going to be short day for us.  The girls had a different idea however, and came out on FIRE for set 2.  Some great play from our back-row, and some strong net play up front enabled us to pull out a 25-18 win to push the match to 3 sets.  Set 3 was a back and forth battle between us and GA-5, and Sarah Ford turned the tide into our favor with some great serves.  The girls played with great heart and energy and pulled out a victory to move into the final round of the silver bracket.

The final round found us paired off against PLA 18-1.  Bethany Stevenson opened the match with a 3-1 set to Hannah who pounded the ball down on an open net…drawing first blood.  In the next few plays, April Clark (middle) stuffed blocked the 6-1 setter from PLA as she attempted to dump the ball over.  This fired up the team, and they played with a very high energy level for the rest of the set.   Dee Griffin, as libero, and Ahsha McQain, defensive specialist, played exceptionally well as they dove all over the court digging balls up.  It was hard fought but Dig It! Alabama took set 1 25-19.  Set 2 was a true battle as both teams played a fast and furious paced match with spectacular defense, and strong offense play.  The lead was constantly changing hands during the match, and Allison Hora and Kiah Madison made their presence known hitting on the outside.  Ahsha found her groove serving and had a great streak in the middle where she created havoc on the other team by picking off their setter in transition. Kayleigh Zahner was swinging hard as our right side hitter, and doing a great job for us defensively in both sets.  She had some of the hardest hits I’ve ever seen her make!  At 22-22, the coaches and parents were on edge, and the next two volleys put us up 24-22.  An aggressive hit that landed out of bounds put the game at 24-23 with PLA serving.  Not wanting to go to a 3^rd and deciding set, the serve was passed perfectly by Dee to Bethany who put up a beautiful 4 set for Hannah who pounded the ball down between two blockers for the victory…Winning the Silver Bracket for 18 Power!