By By BRUCE HIXON Sports Editor
Club volleyball is nothing new for high school players, but for all intent it has been an avenue that has been closed to area participants of the sport.
That is until now.
A new club program called Pensacola Beach Volleyball Club has opened the door for selected members of both the T.R. Miller Lady Tigers and W.S. Neal Lady Blue Eagles.
The program is under the direction of Holly Almony, a sophomore member of the Jefferson Davis Community College Lady Warhawks volleyball team.
Almony, a Gulf Breeze, (Fla.) native, started her program with tryouts and eventually settled on an eight-player roster.
That roster consists of T.R. Miller High School players Terri-Lynne Peacock, Vivian Muth, Emily Layton, Michael Hubbard, Shandreka Foster and Rachel Bostic, W.S. Neal High School's Maggie Crutchfield and W.S. Neal Middle School's Caitlyn Blackman.
Almony's team will play in various tournaments along the Gulf Coast area until their competition ends in mid-April.
Almony does have one concern about the program.
T.R. Miller coach Sharon Peacock is thrilled about having the program available for her players.
Peacock said club volleyball can open the door to the next level.
W.S. Neal coach Kraig Rittenhouse appreciates the proximity of the program.
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Anthony Stovall, a senior guard on the Monroe County basketball team, died of a cerebral aneurysm earlier this month.
Stovall was selected to the T.R. Miller All-Tournament Team last month and was the tournament's second leading scorer to Flomaton's C.J. Williams with 50 points.
Stovall scored 13 points when T.R. Miller escaped with a 68-67 win at Monroe County last month.
Monroe County High School honored Stovall by retiring his number 10 uniform last weekend.
The T.R. Miller Tigers golf team has been assigned to Class 3A Section 1 Field for the upcoming postseason.
Other participants include Alabama Christian, Montgomery Catholic, Holtville, Indian Springs, LAMP, Montgomery Academy and West Blocton.
The site for the Section I Meet has yet to be announced.