Whitehouse, Troup teams capture titles at Ladycat tourney

A Troup Lady Tiger follows through on her service motion in a game against Jacksonville Saturday. The Troup girls captured first place in the eighth grade "A" division and took second place in eighth grade "B" and seventh grade "B" categories. The seventh grade "A" girls finished third. Troup hosts Waskom Monday, Sept. 24 at 5 p.m.

The annual Junior High Ladycat Volleyball Tournament was held Saturday, Sept. 15. A major change this year was the inclusion of seventh grade teams, making the new seventh and eighth grade competition a success.

Ladycat teams kept three first place trophies at home and also took one second place plaque.

The other first place trophy went to the Troup Lady Tigers.

Competing schools were Whitehouse, Troup, Chapel Hill and Jacksonville in seventh grade A and B categories, and eighth grade A and B divisions.

The Whitehouse seventh grade "B" team took first place by beating Jacksonville in round one, 25-8 and 25-17. Top scorers were Brooke Meyer with 11 points, Chelsea Crawford 7 and Bailee Brown and Brianna Sonnamaker with 6 points each.

Whitehouse Ladycats take on Chapel Hill in Saturday's junior high tournament. Host team Whitehouse won three of four first place trophies.

The Ladycats also beat Troup in three games with scores of 25-20, 26-28, and 15- 4. Top scorers during this championship game were Bailee Brown 10, Bailey Riddle 9, and Erin Strickland, Brooke Meyer and Brianna Sonnamaker all with 7 points each.

The Lady Tigers took second place, with Jasmine Warren an outstanding player of the game.

The "A" team for the 7th grade Ladycats also took first place as they played Jacksonville and took two straights wins of 25-9 and 25-18. Top scorers in this game were Ashleigh Crone with 10 points, Haley Rome 7 and Hannah Smith with 5.

The 7th "A" took on the Chapel Hill Bulldogs for the division championship. They won in two games of 25-23 and 25-8. Haley Rome took top honors for scoring with 14 points. Ashleigh Crone scored 12 and Hannah Smith had 6.

The Lady Tigers finished third in the "A" division, with Wykina Caldwell their top player.

The Whitehouse eighth grade "B" team finished the day by accepting the first place trophy. Getting to the top spot, these girls had to play and defeat Jacksonville and Troup. The scores of these games were 25-15, 25-16 and 25-18, 26- 24.

Top scorers against Jacksonville were Emilly Carter, 8; JaAndrea Williams, 7; and Marie Cotton, Sierra Kennedy and Emily Stephenson with 5 points each.

Top scorers in the championship game versus Troup were Jessica Hernandez with 17 points, Taylor Allen and Sierra Kennedy with 6 points each and Ciarra Andrews with 5.

Finishing second, the Lady Tigers were led by Kayla McCleod.

The Ladycat eighth grade "A" team started off strong by defeating Jacksonville 25-14, 25-21. Leading the scoring with service points were Madison Melrose, 15; Michele Stewart, 7; and Erica Jordan and Kayla Farley both with 5 points.

The final championship game paired up Troup with the Ladycats. In this tough-fought match, the Lady Tigers came away with their lone championship, winning 25-11 and 25-18.

Top players for Troup were Keraveon Rodgers and Taylor Martin.

Fighting hard for Whitehouse, top scoring players were Kayla Farley, Rachel Garlitz and Madison Melrose, each with 5 points. Morgan Bridges contributed 4 service points and Erica Jordan, Alexis Hall and Kenzie Patterson had 3 each.

"It was a long day for all of our teams and I'm really proud of them. All of our teams played hard and portrayed true athleticism and sportsmanship. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to coach these girls," said WH coach Shari Knight.