By Caylie Moore, Features Editor
On Saturday, Oct. 3, Etowah County high schools competed against one another in an all-day volleyball tournament at West End High School to determine who would take home the title of reigning county champion this year. Ultimately, Glencoe won the tournament, marking the first time the Yellow Jackets had ever received the county title.
The day started off with a series of intense games, with Sardis sweeping Hokes Bluff and West End sweeping Gaston in the best 2 out of 3 sets.
In the third game, Southside faced off against Sardis in a close match that had the audience riled up. Southside took the win in the first set and managed to put a double-digit lead between the two teams in the second — but Sardis quickly reignited their fire and not only closed the gap but also reversed it, securing the Lions’ win in the second set. By the third set, both teams were hungry for the match win, and no one was certain who would pull ahead until the very end, when Southside scored a series of points and ended the game 15-10.
In the fourth game, Glencoe swept West End, setting up the match-ups in the losing bracket: Sardis vs. Gaston and West End vs. Hokes Bluff.
In the fifth game, Sardis swept Gaston, pushing them out of the tournament; similarly, in the sixth game, West End swept Hokes Bluff, ending their bid for the title, too.
The two winning teams — Glencoe and Southside — played one another in game 7, with Glencoe sweeping Southside.
In game 8, the remaining losing teams — West End and Sardis — competed in yet another close match against each other, a match which ultimately saw the West End Patriots defeat the Sardis Lions after 3 sets.
In the winning bracket — which consisted of Glencoe, Southside, and West End — Southside swept West End in game 9, the semi-finals, cementing the final and especially competitive matchup as Glencoe vs. Southside.
Southside swept Glencoe in game 10. With the match scores between the two now being 1-1, officials called for an 11th game to determine the final rankings.
In that game, Glencoe swept Southside — defending champions and winners of 15 of the previous 16 tournaments — in the best of 2 out of 3 sets.
With that, Glencoe won the 2026 Etowah County Volleyball Tournament, and Southside took second place. West End placed third.
The MVP was Katy Talbot of the Glencoe Yellow Jackets. Glencoe’s stats were as follows: Mia Talbot had 33 kills, 7 aces, 24 digs and 3 blocks; Katy Talbot had 20 kills and 22 digs; Kaedy Smith had 18 kills; Millies Chambless had 18 kills and 4 blocks; Gracyn Bunt had 7 aces and 29 digs; Avery Barkley had 5 aces and 46 assists; and Kinlee Montgomery had 20 digs and 50 assists.
The all-tournament team included:
- Katy Talbot, Glencoe
- Gracyn Bunt, Glencoe
- Malee Ellis, Sardis
- Lilly Ford, Southside
- Makinna Garab, West End
- Marley Hughes, Southside
- Bailey Kitchens, Southside
- Haylen Marbut, Hokes Bluff
- Kinlee Montgomery, Glencoe
- Kennedi Nix, West End
- Collins Reeves, Southside
- Kaedy Smith, Glencoe
- Mia Talbot, Glencoe
- Khloe Walker, Gaston
- Ansley Wallace, Sardis
- DaLeigha Wheeler, West End
