From staff reports

Playing in a breast cancer awareness volleyball tournament Saturday at Clarke County, the W.S. Neal Lady Eagles finished in second place with a 4-1 record. The 4-1 record improved W.S. Neal to 11-7 overall this season.
Teams playing in the tournament were Sweet Water, Clarke County, Millry, Jackson, Akron, Washington County, Saraland and W.S. Neal.
In the first two games of pool play for the Lady Eagles, W.S. Neal defeated Akron 2-0 and Sweet Water 2-0.
Against Akron, W.S. Neal won 27-25 and 25-16. Tykeria Nolan led with 11 service winners and two aces.
Against Sweet Water, W.S. Neal won 25-21 and 25-9. Jodi Busby led with 10 service winners, three aces, and four kills.
In single elimination, W.S. Neal defeated Jackson 2-0. The Lady Eagles won 25-11 and 25-13.
Nolan had 11 service winners, seven aces, and two kills while Busby had 13 service winners and five aces.
In another single elimination game against Akron, W.S. Neal won 2-1. The Lady Eagles lost the first set 25-17, but won set two 25-15 and set three 15-12.
Nolan had 10 service winners, one ace, and one kill while Busby had 10 service winners, four aces, and five kills.
In the championship match against Saraland, W.S. Neal lost 2-0. The Lady Eagles lost 25-15 and 25-13.
Busby had four service winners, two aces, and four kills to lead in the win.
W.S. Neal head coach Jason Blaney said the tournament was a great day and a great for his whole team in all ways.
“I was a little worried in set one versus Akron as we found ourselves down 17-24, but we battled back to win that first set 27-25 as Tykeria Nolan served seven straight service winners and Jodi Busby shut the door with final two service winners,” Blaney said. “From that point we were ready.”
Blaney said in the championship match his team came up against a very good Saraland team with a great coach that is led by player, Avery Cooper.
“My girls did not back down,” he said. “Saraland has a great attack game and we had some blocks (Karissa Johnson, Dinah Samuel, and Haleigh Dubose) on them and some digs (Madison Winchester and Nolan), but just came up short. We played great all day. I was so proud of the girls. We have conditioned hard in the off-season and it showed Saturday as we did not show any signs of weariness or fatigue. We are proud of this second place trophy, and hungry for more to put along with it in seasons to come.”