AHSAA volleyball plays at the Omniplex for the 1st time:

Oktoberfest Invitational hosted by Cullman HS at the Omniplex:

GDW Analysis:

 Cullman's new sports mecca, the Omniplex, welcomed AHSAA volleyball to the facility for the first time Saturday.

 Cullman High School hosted the Oktoberfest Invitational with 16 teams enjoying this historical moment.
Cullman set up the schedule as the Lady Bearcats included a meeting with the Holly Pond Lady Broncos to begin the round robin format.

 The Lady Bearcats swept Holly Pond in 2 close sets, 27 to 25 and 25 to 15 to end a losing streak of 5 consecutive matches.
Cullman had not been a winner on the court since September 18 when Amy Hudson's Lady Bearcats that day defeated Addison and Decatur from Bearcat Arena.
Holly Pond was trying to regain a winning mode.
The Lady Broncos have done well in 2025 with coach Adrien Adams. But they suffered a quarterfinal upset to Fairview in the Cullman County tournament last Monday.

 Holly Pond was idle from the court until the Oktoberfest.
Things were going well for Holly Pond when the Lady Broncos were closing in on winning the first set as a kill by Blakely Baggett had them with the lead of 23 to 19.
But a service error followed and Cullman would go ahead at 24 to 23 on a kill.

 Holly Pond was able to even the score at 25 to 25 thanks to a kill by Isabella Foust.

 Then the Lady Bearcats scored the next two points behind a kill from Addison Johnson and a net block by freshman Reagan Burden to win the set 27 to 25.
Back and forth the two went in the 2nd set. Burden scored on a volley that ignited Cullman with the Lady Bearcats going on to take a 14 to 7 lead after a service point by Clementine Hollingsworth.
A slight surge from Holly Pond trimmed the deficit to 17 to 13 by a kill from Foust.
The next points on the board went to Cullman's side by serves from Millie Jenkins and Samantha Johnson and a kill by Burden.
A volley from Kaylee Johnson closed out the match with Cullman pleased to get the day started in a positive way after a couple of weeks of dealing with setbacks.
Cullman then battled Albertville in their 2nd match. A 28 to 26 triumph forced a tiebreaker between the two.
Albertville won the tiebreaker 15 to 8.
Holly Pond hooked up with East Lawrence. The Lady Broncos were in striking distance of victory, but fell in both sets 25 to 22 and 25 to 21.
In the match, the play of Baggett and freshman Sadie Nail near the net was a boost for the Lady Broncos.
Both also showed quality from the service line several times.
However, mistakes loomed large at critical stages of both sets.
Holly Pond was called for a 2 hits violation that gave East Lawrence victory in the 1st set.
The 2nd set ended with a Holly Pond player making contact with the net while receiving and East Lawrence avoided to go into a tiebreaker with the Lady Broncos.
Holly Pond fell to 25 & 11 entering its final assignment later in the day with Albertville.
Cullman would get East Lawrence in closing out the round robin status.
A week is left in the regular season.
Holly Pond will look to overcome the adversity that has been with them for the past week as they will host the AHSAA 3A, Area 11 Tournament on October 16.
Cullman plays at Mortimer Jordan Tuesday to complete its area assignments. The Lady 'Cats are 0 & 3 in the area with Jasper on top and to be hosting the area playoff the following week.

Photo of Cullman VB coach Amy Hudson (left) and Holly Pond coach Adrien Adams prior to their battle in the Oktoberfest Invitational Saturday from the Omniplex.
GDW photo by Johnny Thornton.