Charles Prince

The North Jefferson News



North Jefferson County could be well represented at the state volleyball tournament in two weeks, but the schools hoping to get there have to make a good showing at their regional tournaments first.

Three local teams hope to take a step toward a state volleyball championship today, as Corner, Fultondale and Gardendale will all vie for region titles.

The Lady Yellow Jackets, under the direction of first year coach Leah Cross, will be at Jacksonville High School competing for the 4A, Region C crown.

Corner (14-10) needs to reach the reach the region semi-finals to advance to next week’s sub-state round of the playoffs.

Today, the Lady Yellow Jackets will tangle with the host Lady Golden Eagles, who won the Area 11 title, defeating Alexandria.

Corner finished as the Area 9 tourney runner-up to St. Clair County.

Corner defeated Tarrant in the area semi-finals, 25-20, 25-17 and 25-21, before falling in the finals to the Lady Saints, 25-12, 25-12 and 29-17.

The Lady Jackets feature Nicole Russell, Jeri

Taft, Erin Tingle and Jennifer Tolbert as the team leaders.

Fultondale travels to West Morgan High School for the 2A, Region D tournament.

They will meet the host Lady Rebels, who won the Area 15 title over Falkville.

The Lady Wildcats finished second in Area 13 to J.B. Pennington. Fultondale defeated Cleveland in the semi-finals to assure themselves of a spot in the regional tourney.

Head coach Melanie Gearhart’s club reached the postseason this year after only winning two matches a season ago.

The Lady Wildcats are lead by senior Jordan Mann and junior Britani Howell.

Gardendale travels to Springville High School in hopes of defending their 5A, Region C title.

The Lady Rockets are looking for a third straight region title after winning the Area 10 tournament on Tuesday night.

In 2006, Gardendale whipped Curry in a five-game match in the region title, before losing the following week to Brewer in the sub-state playoffs.

The current group of seniors on the Lady Rockets roster, Emily Lawson, Beth Erwin, Kristian Moody and Kendall Thomas have played in the state championship tournament in Pelham during their freshman and sophomore seasons and are determined to get back one last time.

Gardendale (24-9), under the direction of first year coach Alyssa Whitehead, has been ranked it the state 5A polls most of the season and are considered a legitimate threat to make a run at the crown, should they reach Pelham.

However, their journey to a state title will begin today.

Should the Lady Rockets advance to the regional semi-finals, they would advance to the sub-state round next week.

In all classifications, the top two finsihers in each regional tournament will host third and fourth place finsihers from other regions during the sub-state round. A team must reach the regional finals to host a sub-state playoff match. Losing in the regional semi-finals means traveling during the next round.

After the opening round games at 10 and 11:15 a.m., there will be a break in the action until 1:30 when the semi-finals get under way. The consolation matches will begin at 2:45 and the finals of each regional tourney are scheduled to tip off at 4 p.m.