Veteran Grace Christian School volleyball coach Jamie Willers was beyond pleased with the way her Lady Eagles responded to high-level competition in the Hartfield Academy Hawks Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 12. “I knew going into the tournament that we would either go out there like deer in the headlights because we were playing some really big schools or we would go out there at the top of our game fighting like we had nothing to lose,” Willers said. “I am so proud that they chose the latter option and played our best volleyball of the whole season. We finished second in our pool during our pool play.” Grace Christian lost to Brandon 25-12, 25-22, Vancleave 25-15, 25-14, and Pontchartrain Christian Athletics 25-22, while taking wins over Presbyterian Christian School 25-22, 26-24 and Mt. Zion Christian School 25-11, 25-11. Against Brandon the Lady Eagles had an 86 percent serving percentage with Anna Howell delivering eight service wins and one ace and Jasmine Kelly having eight kills and Carley Peterson three. Anna Gillis had eight good serves against PCS, while Kelly had 10 kills and Lenleigh Dobbs had nine digs and 10 serve receptions. Bella Brownlee had 17 assists in the match. Shelby Morgan had eight aces among her 12 service points in the win over Mt. Zion. The Lady Eagles had 26 digs as a team against Vancleave, with Marleigh Turnipseed picking up eight. Kelly had eight service wins, including an ace, as GSC served at a 93 percent clip. On Thursday, Sept. 10 the varsity picked up a 25-11, 25-13, 25-16 win over Heritage Academy. Gillis had seven aces and four kills for the winners, while Brownlee had seven digs and 20 assists. The junior varsity won 25-26, 25-4. Bailey Troyer and Susanna Dobbs played well for GSC. On Tuesday, Sept. 8 the middle school team beat Pillow Academy 27-25, 25-21 to improve to 3-1 on the season. The junior varsity won 25-18, 25-5, with Shelby Morgan and Tina Clark leading the way.
