By Brannon King / For the FCT

The Lady Golden Tigers continued the varsity volleyball season with three matches over the past week and picked up their first area win of the year.

Russellville (2-5) swept Hamilton 3-0 Sept. 6 to get a victory over the Class 5A, Area 14 opponent. Russellville took the match by game scores of 25-13, 25-14 and 25-13.

Briley Gillespie had seven kills for RHS, while Kaitleen Arzola and Callie Palmer had six kills each. Alivia Clemmons had five aces, and Krista Sikes had 10 assists, while Josie Willis added six.

Earlier in the evening, Russellville hosted Wilson, and the Lady Warriors topped the Golden Tigers 2-0. Wilson took the match by 25-7 and 25-21 scores. Gillespie had five kills for RHS and Arzola had three. Lexie Glass had four blocks, while Briana Ramirez and Alivia Clemmons had four digs each.

“I thought they played pretty well,” said Russellville head coach Whitney Glover. “I don’t feel like they played as well against Hamilton as they did against Wilson in that last game. I think the energy was a little bit higher in that game, and Hamilton has a lot to work on, so our girls were kind of trying to play to their level. I want them to step up and play hard every single game.

“They’re working on it and getting better, and I see lots of improvement but we’ve still got a long way to go,” Glover added.

Earlier in the week Sept. 4, Russellville traveled to Deshler and fell to the Tigers 3-0. DHS won the match with scores of 25-21, 25-7 and 25-22. For RHS, Treyvia Pruitt had six kills, Ramirez had 15 digs and Sikes added 11 assists.