Briskey powers Saks to title
- Updated: August 29, 2015
[corner-ad id=2]Saks beats Donoho in straight sets for own Invitational crown; Oxford goes 2-3 in Hoover
Saks senior Jordan Briskey (R) talks with her sister and Donoho junior high coach Destinee after the Lady Wildcats defeated the Lady Falcons in straight sets to win the Saks Invitational Saturday.
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
Jordan Briskey had been waiting for the finals of the Saks Invitational since the day she learned of the teams playing in the field.
Not only would she get a chance to test her powerful game against a top team in the area, she might even get a little edge in a sibling rivalry.
Briskey powered the Lady Wildcats to another title in their own tournament Saturday. It was a five-match sweep capped by a 25-17, 25-17 victory over Donoho that also gave Briskey one up on her older sister Destinee, who’s in her first year as the Lady Falcons’ junior high coach.
“That meant a lot,” Jordan said. “We’ve been talking about it all weekend long.
“Ever since I found out Donoho was going to be in it, which is about two weeks ago, I talked about it every day. Every time I’d come to practice me and my friends talk about how Donoho is the team we were going to have to beat.
“The beat us last year (in the regular season) and I was hurt when we played so I didn’t get to play against them. I’ve got to show you’re not going to beat us. I’m going to do this for my team. We’re going to win.”
With the sister who sparked her interest in the game sitting in a neutral viewing position the entire match, Jordan Briskey used her vertical leap and powerful arm swing to score nine kills in the final.
She put away three straight points early in the first set and scored two later in the run that got Saks closer to the clinching point. She had 48 kills in the five matches, 10 or more in three of them, but it was the finals match that really got her adrenaline flowing.
“As the game went on I was getting pumped and pumped and pumped,” she said. “Every time I hit I was getting up, I couldn’t help it. My emotions were going crazy because I’ve always wanted to play Donoho and beat them because they’ve beaten us every time we played them and it just felt so good when I hit it and no one could pick it up. It felt great.”
The Lady Wildcats (7-0) won all five of their matches in straight sets. In the run-up to the championship match, they beat Wellborn (25-11, 25-11); Sacred Heart (25-9, 25-14); Etowah (25-17, 25-21) and Ohatchee in a battle of tournament unbeatens (25-17, 25-17).
Maiya Northard and Tayler Teague each had five kills in the championship match. Baylee Snyder had six kills against Ohatchee, while Teague and Northard had seven against Etowah and Sacred Heart, respectively. Jaelyn Wilson had 61 total assists.
Donoho (5-1) lost its first set of the tournament, but bounced back to beat Pleasant Valley (15-21, 25-23, 15-9); Cleburne County (25-22, 25-16); Faith Christian (20-25, 25-20, 15-9); and Weaver (25-8, 25-13).
The Lady Falcons, who go back to Saks Thursday, were led Madison Gaines’ 27 kills and eight blocks. Camille Fink had 22 kills and eight aces; Camryn Swain had 19 kills and 15 digs; Kayla Wallace had 18 aces and 16 digs; Anna Marie Woodfin had 34 digs and eight aces; and Katie Brown recorded 81 assists.
“They showed an ability to fight through when we had some adversity and that’s what we’ve got to key on and build on,” Donoho coach Janice Slay said.
Faith Christian also took a set off Donoho. The Lady Lions were led in the tournament by Madison Stephens (12 digs, five blocks, seven aces, 26 kills); Nicole Frechette (12 aces, eight kills, 18 digs); and Cornelia Simpson (10 kills, 10 blocks, six digs). Abby Emerson recorded 44 assists.
“We played pretty good against then, we just didn’t make enough plays at the end of the day to win,” Faith coach Bradley Dawson said.
SAKS INVITATIONAL
Championship match: Saks def. Donoho, 25-17, 25-17
Pool A
Saks 4-0
Ohatchee 3-1
Etowah 2-2
Sacred Heart 1-3
Wellborn 0-4
Pool B
Donoho 4-0
Pleasant Valley 3-1
Faith 2-2
Cleburne County 1-3
Weaver 0-4
Oxford falls in bracket quarterfinals
HOOVER – The Yellow Jackets went 2-2 in the Juanita Boddie tournament Saturday, eventually falling in the Silver Bracket quarterfinals to Sparkman 23-25, 25-19, 15-13.
Earlier in the day they lost to No. 2-6A Spanish Fort 2-0, and beat Hazel Green 2-1 and area foe Chelsea 2-0. They opened the tournament on Friday with a 2-0 loss to No. 1-6A John Carroll.
Breanna Nolan had 10 kills, two aces and 50 digs on the day. Karagan Timmons had 32 digs and two aces, Nyia Archie had 18 kills and nine blocks, Winter Taylor had 22 kills and Chloe Stone had 63 assists, 19 digs and three aces.
“We are a work in progress,” Jackets assistant coach Rachel Poe said. “We have to work on consistency and learning to minimize errors on our side of the court.
“We don’t give up but our communication shuts down and we begin to slow down once that occurs. We are looking for leadership an consistency. Hopefully we will climb the hill steady as we go throughout the season and be ready to peak once the postseason is upon us.”
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