Calera and Shelby compete in a tri-match against Leeds

Published 11:50 am Tuesday, September 6, 2022

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By LAUREN SEXTON | Sports Reporter

CALERA–The Calera Eagles and the Shelby County Wildcats took on Leeds in a tri-match on the evening of Thursday, Sept. 1. Calera defeated Leeds and Shelby County in two close matches both 2-1 and the Wildcats were defeated by Leeds 2-1.

Shelby County took on the Eagles in the first match of the night, losing 2-1. The Wildcats started the first set strong defeating Calera 25-16 but fell short in the remaining two. 

Senior, Bella Guy served three aces in the match against Calera, while junior and senior, Crisanne Shoot and Madison “MJ” Wood served one. Wood also led the Wildcats with eight digs and ten kills in the Thursday evening matchup.

In the second match of the evening, the Wildcats took on Leeds. Shelby County won the second set 26-24, however, lost the third set 17-15. Shoot led the Wildcats with 11 kills and 18 digs. Sharon Hanson served three aces and Wood served four. Both Hanson and Wood had ten assists each.

“We’ve played much better than we played today, so I’m anxious to see what next week looks like after we’ve had a break,” Shelby County High School head coach, Haley King said. “We’re going to be okay, we’re going to recoup and continue.”

It was a tough loss for the Wildcats after placing second in the weekend prior to the tri-match, but senior, Bell Guy believes that Shelby County tried their best regardless of the outcome. 

“We got down for a little bit, but I think we tried to get back up,” senior, Bella Guy said about the Wildcat’s performance in the tri-match. “We’re still going out on a good note, even if we lost.”

Calera had a big evening Thursday night defeating both Shelby County and Leeds, 2-1 in both matches. The Eagles made a huge comeback after losing their first set to the Wildcats, Calera made won the second and third sets 25-17 and 15-5.

The Eagles played Leeds in the last match of the evening, winning 2-1. Calera came back from a 12-3 deficit Leeds had during the third set, defeating Leeds  22-20 in the final set of the evening.

Senior, Chasity Broadhead led the Eagles with seven aces and 16 assists in the match. Middle blocker, Jordan Douglass had ten kills and 13 digs for the evening. Issy Overton and Sarah Davidson both had eight kill each. 

“I’m just excited because we really pulled together after having a slump again,” Calera interim head coach, Meredith Giangrosso said. “They took what we did at practice yesterday and took that into this game, keeping the energy up and pulling out a win.”

Shelby County High School returns home on Tuesday, Sept. 7 to take on the Montevallo Bulldogs and Calera hits the road to take on Thompson on Tuesday, Sept. 13.