Winston Academy has been building for a week like they had this past week and the schedule that Candice Cefalu had put her team through early helped get them there. Through the first couple of weeks, WA played a grueling stretch of games with losses to Lamar School, and one of the state’s best teams in Jackson Academy twice. Those matches helped prepare them for what’s ahead, however, when the competition level was more neutralized. WA turned in a 3-0 week when they knocked off East Webster once and Louisville twice. The Lady Wildcats and the Lady Pats split their matches a year ago in Winston’s first year, but it was a clean sweep this week for WA as they won in straight sets both nights. “We just got better with every set against them,” Cefalu said of the Louisville wins. “They’ve gotten to where they play well under pressure.” In the first match, the Lady Pats won 25-22, 25-18 and 25-8 in their three sets. The came back on Thursday with 25-18, 25-18 and 25-13 wins. In game two, Brayleigh Gregory had nine aces and five kills, Sophie Vanlandingham had eight aces, Analeigh Dempsey had four kills and Betsy Carson Hatcher had three kills. Cefalu also raved about the back row passing from libero Juliana Sims and the sets from Laney Gregory and Bella Hillyer. The Lady Pats (3-3) also got a big win on Tuesday last week when they traveled to East Webster to take on a first-year team. The Lady Wolverines had been a softball power in Class 2A for many years but the Mississippi High School Activities Association no longer sanctions slow pitch softball forcing most teams that were still playing to play volleyball. Despite it being the first year on the court, the Lady Wolverines team is full of athletes. The two programs battled through five sets with the Lady Pats coming away with a big 3-2 win. WA won the first set 25-12, lost the second 25-33, won the third set 25-22 and lost the fourth 25-19 to send things to a decisive fifth set. It was in that final set that the Lady Patriots came out firing with a 9-0 start and they finished with a 15-6 win. Vanlandingham and Sims were a major part of things in the match with their serves and Cefalu was proud of her team for bouncing back after the fourth set loss. “This past year, we concentrated during the summer on playing down. We scrimmaged on junior high and they were ahead by 10 points because our girls would get really down on themselves,” Cefalu said. “It’s really paid off, clearly. They came back and didn’t get down on themselves. They came back with great attitude in that fifth set.” Vanlandingham had 10 aces in the match and EWHS coach Dallas McCracken spoke postgame of the difficulties of receiving her serves. Brayleigh Gregory finished with six aces, Laney Gregory with five and Sims with four. Layton Nowell had six kills and a block in the win. The Lady Patriots were set to face Nanih Waiya on back to back nights on Monday and Tuesday of this week.
