Thursday roundup
- Updated: September 1, 2016
Reports include Faith Christian, White Plains, Jacksonville, Pleasant Valley
Faith Christian libero Abby Kazanjian raises her arms in triumph during the Lady Lions’ tri-match with Southside and Ohatchee Thursday night. On the cover, Kazanjian returns a shot in front of teammate Sarah Kate McVeigh. (All photos by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)
By East Alabama Sports Today
The energy and passion the Faith Christian volleyball team displayed in its run to the Saks Invitational championship match last weekend returned Thursday night and coach Bradley Dawson was glad to see it.
The Lady Lions split their two matches in the hot Champions Sports Academy gym, falling to Southside 2-1 (23-25, 25-17, 15-9) and beating Ohatchee 2-0 (25-22, 25-10). Southside beat Ohatchee 2-0.
“The last set against Ohatchee we played with the same energy and passion we did on Saturday; it was good to see it back,” Dawson said. “The score kind of reflects that intensity, where we can be.”
Faith (9-4) was strong at the net and with the serve, despite not being a full-strength in the serving department. The Lady Lions 15 aces in the tri-match, with Emily Sills (six) and Cornelia Simpson combining for nine of them.
Simpson also had five kills and four blocks. Morgan Robinette had seven kills and four blocks.
“Our bread and butter is our serving,” Dawson said. “It’s pretty tough, but tonight one of best serves wasn’t able to jump-serve and the other didn’t play. We found a way to win.”
Faith’s Emily Sills gets full extension on one of her effective serves. She had six aces in two matches.
ALEXANDRIA 2, WHITE PLAINS 0
WHITE PLAINS 2, CLEBURNE COUNTY 0
ALEXANDRIA 2, CLEBURNE COUNTY 0
Playing with a lineup put together just the day before, White Plains split matches with Alexandria (25-16, 25-17) and Cleburne County (25-23, 25-10). The win over Heflin was its second in six days.
White Plains coach Joi Watts held out middle hitter Hanna Barno for precautionary reasons – she’s expected back next week — but the move forced a shuffle in the lineup. Defensive specialist Isabella Pinto moved to outside hitter and regular OH Rian Chandler went to the middle. Pinto responded with six kills and 11 digs and Chandler, Watts said, “played great.”
Landry Bussey had eight kills and two blocks for the Lady Wildcats (5-2). Korie Burgess had 17 digs and six aces. Ryleigh Randall had 27 assists, eight digs and two aces.
“I was proud of our effort with a lineup we practiced and put together yesterday,” Watts said. “I felt like our mindset and mentality was important and the girls played together and fought hard all night.
“Alexandria is a great team, and they played like it tonight. They did a lot of good things like good teams do. But I was proud of my girls and their collective effort. Our focus has been (on) competing at a high level for the entire match and in spite of the score I felt like we did that tonight.”
Alexandria beat Cleburne County 25-9, 25-13.
PLEASANT VALLEY 3, RANBURNE 0
JACKSONVILLE — The Lady Raiders’ continued their hot start to the season, sweeping Ranburne 25-12, 25-9, 25-16.
Cammy Cochran had 14 kills and 10 digs. Alisa St. John had five kills, 10 digs and one block. Blakely Malsey had five kills and three blocks. Mikayla Kendrick scored five kills. Madi Bently had seven digs. And Savannah Williams had 31 assists.
“I’m very proud of the way the girls are playing,” PV coach Dana Bryant said.
JACKSONVILLE 2, PLAINVIEW 0
GERALDINE 2, JACKSONVILLE 0
GERALDINE – Sierra Stone played a strong game at the net as Jacksonville split two matches. The Lady Golden Eagles defeated Plainview 25-17, 25-20, and lost to host Geraldine 25-18, 25-16.
Stone had 15 kills, eight blocks and seven aces. Elizabeth Poe had 12 kills and four blocks. Aniyah Robinson had nine kills and two aces. Reagan Stallings had 14 digs. Tatiyana Thomas had 12 assists and Brooke Murphy had 13 assists. Jacksonville is 5-4.
Ohatchee’s Shelby Crump (11) celebrates a bit of good fortune with teammates Jazmine Adams (13) and Madison Howard (2) during their match Thursday night.
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