- Hartselle's Lillyanna Cartee, left, battles St. Paul's Ryan LeDoux for the ball during play in the AHSAA volleyball state tournament at the Crossplex in Birmingham, Ala., Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020. Special to the Enquirer/Dennis Victory of AL.com.
Hartselle Advances to 6A Volleyball State Championship Game
Published 9:57 pm Tuesday, October 27, 2020
The Hartselle Tigers picked up two wins on Tuesday to advance to the 6A State Championship game.
“I think my girls played really well and kept fighting and never gave up,” said Hartselle head coach Tanya Lybarger.
In the Elite 8, Hartselle defeated St. Paul’s Episcopal in three sets, 25-23, 25-21, 25-20.
The Tigers were led by Lillyanna Cartee, who finished with 19 digs and nine kills. Hailey Holshouser had 13 digs and seven kills, while Jadyn Chesser added 10 digs and 8 kills.
Hartselle met up with Spanish Fort in the Final Four. The Toros defeated the Tigers in last season’s Final Four matchup on their way to winning the 6A State Championship.
The Tigers pulled out a five-set victory over Spanish Fort, 25-23, 17-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-9, to advance to the state championship match.
A crucial turning point in the match came in the third set when Hartselle rallied back from trailing by 10 points to win the set.
“After the Toros won game four, my girls said it was their match and they were not going to lose,” said Lybarger.
The Tigers (54-11) will meet Moutain Brook in the championship game. The Spartans defeated Hazel Green in five sets to advance. Mountain Brook won a state title last season in Class 7A.
