Lady Tigers clinch winning season with 3-0 victory over Greenville

The Demopolis Lady Tigers (11-6, 4-1) notched another area win Thursday as they downed Greenville 3-0.

In game one, Demopolis downed Greenville 25-13 in a contest in which junior Jade Montgomery helped give her team separation when she dropped in nine consecutive serves that led to DHS points.

“Jade has been a consistent server for us all season,” Demopolis coach Blythe Smith said of Montgomery. “We know that when she s at the line, we usually are going to have a chance to make a run. She was on it today, which is impressive because she has been playing hurt for about the last week.”

In game two, the Lady Tigers saw Montgomery string together another strong service streak while sophomore Katie Marques dropped in a six-serve streak of her own to put the Lady Tigers well out in front. Demopolis cruised to a 25-6 win in that game. The Lady Tigers iced the win with a 25-11 mashing in game three.

“We started a little bit slow in game one. I think it was 15-11 at one point,” Smith said. “We got it together after I called that timeout and played the way we are supposed to. We just have to get better about starting strong. And that is something we are running out of time to get fixed.”

The match guaranteed Demopolis a winning season, a feat the program has not accomplished in recent history.

“It was one of our goals to have a winning season. That is something we have gotten close to, but haven’t done. So this is a big deal for us,” Smith said. “But we’re not done yet. Our bigger goals are still in front of us and we have to finish strong in order to reach them.”

The game also served as the varsity debut for eighth graders Napoleon Robertson and Madelyn Brooker, who were called up to the varsity squad after the conclusion of the Demopolis Middle School season.

“We have had a lot of girls dealing with injury lately. With only having nine girls to start with, we really needed some depth on the bench and Madelyn and Napoleon gave us that in a big way today,” Smith said. “They both played really well and neither one looked out of place. I was very pleased with them and with Abbe Sims, who hasn’t gotten a lot of opportunities yet, but has really stuck it out and worked to get better. All three of them will be important for our program moving forward.”

The Lady Tigers honored seniors Riley King and Jacqueline Banks before the game as the contest marked their final regular season home game.

“I cannot say enough about Riley and Jacqueline and what they have meant to us,” Smith said. “Riley has been here four years and has barely come off the floor. Jacqueline just joined us this year but has brought a tremendous attitude and has really been a great teammate and a reliable player.”

Demopolis heads to York Monday for its final area contest of the season. A win there leaves the Lady Tigers in a first place tie with Selma. DHS would hold the tiebreaker by virtue of the fact that it won more games than Selma over the course of the team’s two matches this season.

Demopolis is scheduled to wrap up its regular season in Plantersville Thursday against Dallas County.