RRS UPDATE: MA, STJ volleyball open with wins; Thompson wins Kickoff Classic

COMBINED REPORTS

VOLLEYBALL

Montgomery Academy 3, St. Paul’s Episcopal 1

Montgomery Academy opened the 2026 volleyball season with a 3-1 victory over St. Paul’s Episcopal, bouncing back from a 25-23 loss in the first set to win the next three, 25-12, 25-14 and 25-15.

Morgan Springer and Bennett Britt each had 17 kills to lead the Eagles’ offense, with E.G. Hines adding 12 kills, followed by Addison Kitchens with seven, Emilyn Trott with five and Rehmat Sidhu with one.

Springer added one block, one ace and two digs, Britt had two aces and 17 digs, Hines had an ace and 14 digs, Trott had two digs, Sidhu had two aces, four digs and 45 assists, Lizzie Campbell had four aces, 24 digs and four assists and Kathleen Johnston had three aces, nine digs and one assist.

St. James 2, LAMP 0

St. James 2, Brew Tech 0

The Trojans hosted a tri-match on Thursday, beating LAMP 25-18 and 25-23 and Brew Tech 25-18 and 25-17.

Bailey Fife had 11 kills and three aces for the Trojans, while Emily Darby had nine kills and 12 digs, Mary Olive Maddox had seven kills, 14 digs and three aces, Elliette Barton had 14 digs and Ragan King had 23 assists, 11 digs and eight aces.

St. James (2-0) will return to action on Saturday in the Guardian Credit Union Panther Classic at Prattville Christian Academy.

Briarwood Christian 3, Prattville Christian 0

Briarwood Christian defeated the Panthers in the 2026 season opener, winning 25-11, 25-19 and 25-17 over PCA on Thursday.

For the Panthers, Olivia Rossi had eight kills and three digs, Maren Diefenderfer had eight kills and five digs, Christiana Franklin had a block and two digs, Haven Harrell had an ace, two assists and five digs, Jordyn Harris had two kills, four digs and eight assists, Aubrey Cox had seven assists, Sara Grace Smith had four digs, Peyton Thrash had three digs and Maddie Brownlee had a dig.

PCA (0-1) will host the Guardian Credit Union Panther Classic Tournament on Saturday.

Hooper Academy 3, Abbeville Christian 2

ABBEVILLE -- Jenna Conway had 30 kills, a pair of aces, eight blocks and 10 digs to help the Colts win a five-set match at Abbeville Christian on Thursday.

Layla Adams had 33 assists, 10 digs and a kill for the Colts, while Jade Taylor had four aces, two kills and 11 digs and Jaylen White added 18 digs and an assist.

HS FOOTBALL

AHSAA KiCKOFF CLASSIC: Thompson 41, Central-Phenix City 14

PHENIX CITY - Thompson dominated in the season opener, defeating Central-Phenix City , 41-14, in the 21st AHSAA Kickoff Classic Thursday at Garrett-Harrison Stadium.

The game was a rematch of last year’s Class 7A semifinal game, also won by the Warriors.

    Thompson quarterback Trent Seaborn passed for 331 yards and four touchdowns on 18-of-27 attempts. Running back CJ Cowley totaled 131 total yards and two touchdowns to lead Thompson (1-0).

Bobby Coleman led the Red Devils with 269 yards on 14-of-23 passing including a touchdown plus two interceptions. Braylen Averett led Central-Phenix City in receiving with 108 yards and a touchdown on four catches.

This was the first Kickoff Classic to be played in a venue other than Cramton Bowl since its origin in 2006.