Lady Patriots win Tournament of Champions at Supreme Courts
By Mike Easterling
GUNTERSVILLE – Lady Patriots outlasted Brentwood in a three-set battle Saturday to win the Tournament of Champions at Supreme Courts.
Bob Jones (27-3), ranked No. 1 in Alabama by Maxpreps, defeated Brentwood (15-4), ranked No. 6 in Tennessee, 25-21, 23-25, 15-10 to finish the tournament with a 7-0 record at Guntersville’s multi-sports complex. The only game the Lady Patriots lost was in the final to Brentwood.
Prior to the tournament, Bob Jones defeated Collierville (Tenn.) 2-1 and Fort Payne 2-0 in a home regular season tri-match.
“We’ve played a lot of matches for this early in the season,” Lady Patriots head coach Jenny Jarrett said. “I think they played really well this past weekend. We just have to make sure we don’t start coasting and keep working to get better. That’s just my biggest one. We don’t want to overlook anybody. We want to make sure we’re staying sharp and not getting content.”
Bob Jones swept into the Tournament of Champions final by defeating Desoto Central (Miss.), Sylacauga, Riverdale (Tenn.), Oxford, Girls Prep (Chattanooga) and Nolensville (Tenn.) all by scores of 2-0.
The Lady Patriots opened their 7A, Area 7 schedule against Austin (12-5, 0-0) at home Tuesday and face New Hope and host Arab on Thursday.
Statistical leaders for Bob Jones include Kennedy Vaughn 219 kills, Kendall Buckley (167 kills, Mya Lacey Mya Lacey (.328 hitting percentage), Riley Lovell (468 assists and 45 blocks) and Kalison Beigh with 32 aces and 216 digs).
“I think that they are really pulling together,” Jarrett said. “I mean, we’ve had different moments where different kids stepped up for us. I think our leaders, who everybody looks to like Kennedy and Riley, have definitely done their job but we’ve had a lot of help from the other ones as well.’’
The squad will take a break from tournament action this weekend after playing in three straight since the season started.
Next week, Bob Jones travels to Florence for another Area 7 match then play at Hoover and Mountain Brook before returning home Saturday for a tri-match with second-ranked McGill-Toolen and Saraland.
