It may not have been as pretty she would have liked, but Nanih Waiya volleyball coach Danya Hunter was still very pleased with the Lady Warriors tight three-set win over West Lowndes last week.
“That was good for us,” Hunter said. “It was our first district win. We have got three division games coming up and we needed to get off to a good start.”
The Lady Warriors, who also beat Kosciusko in three sets last week, were set to play three league matches this week, beginning with Amory and Kemper County at home on Monday and Tuesday before traveling to Aberdeen on Thursday.
“I think we are much improved and it would be really good for us to have a good week this week,” she said. “It would be huge for us because they only take the top two teams (out of the district for the playoffs). It only gets harder as the season goes along.”
Dailyn Nance recorded six kills in the NW’s 25-10, 25-13, 25-22 win over Kosciusko. “She had one huge one (kill) in that third set,” Hunter said. Kaylee Gregory and I’onnya Coleman also had kills.
“Our back row played well as a whole against them,” she said. “They had several digs.”
The West Lowndes match was a little more of a struggle for the Lady Warriors, although they won in three sets — 25-22, 25-22, 25-23.
“It was a lot of back and forth and really wasn’t what we were looking for,” Hunter said. “They (West Lowndes) were sending the ball back on the first pass and weren’t even trying to set it up. We truly weren’t expecting that. We had to make some adjustments and once we did we played very well.”
Hunter said all of her front row players had at least three kills in the match.
The junior varsity won 25-8, 25-10 over Kosciusko and 25-7, 25-11 over West Lowndes.
WA volleyball earns first win in school history
By Robbie Faulk
Winston County Journal
It’s year one for the Winston Academy volleyball team but they’re not quite playing like it.
The Lady Patriots have gone up against all three of the Winston County public schools so far in their inaugural season and put up a fight against all of them. But after losing matches against Nanih Waiya, Noxapater and Louisville, they finally saw their hard work pay off last week.
On the road at Noxapater, the Lady Pats won their match against the Lady Tigers and the varsity took home its first win in school history with a 3-2 road victory. Winston lost the first set and the third said to fall behind in the match 2-1 but the players continued to work to get back into the thick of things.
WA won the third set to stay alive and took a 26-24 victory in an exciting fourth set to knot things up and force a decisive final fifth set. That’s where they took home the 15-9 win and earned themselves a historic victory.
“It was great, especially coming back from that loss in the first set,” head coach Candice Cefalu said. “We adjusted our defense to Noxapater and they really worked together well as a team after that. I am super proud of the girls and how hard they worked.”
The last Winston county team that WA has yet to see is perhaps the best in the area as the Lady Pats faced off against Grace Christian right down the road from its home gym on Tuesday night.
Lady Eagle netters pick up two more victories
By Laurence Hilliard
Winston County Journal
The Grace Christian volleyball team won two matches and lost one last week, with straight set victories over Louisville and North River Christian Academy of Alabama and a five set loss to Heritage Academy.
The Lady Eagles defeated Louisville 25-13, 25-11, 25-8 and North River 25-20, 25-14, 25-15. Heritage came from behind for a 14-25, 25-23, 21-25, 25-20, 15-8 victory over Grace Christian.
Against Louisville, Maggie Phillips had seven aces and 15 service points and Anna Howell had three kills.
Coach Jamey Willers said her team played better against North River. “We were moving better and setting up our attackers better.”
Phillips, Carly Peterson and Anna Gillis each had six aces. Peterson and Lenleigh Dobbs each received 11 serves and Phillips had seven kills.
Fatigue, the result of three matches in four days, was a factor in the final two sets against Heritage, according to Willers. She added that her players had too many service errors and were tight in the fifth set facing a decisive set for the first time. “They weren't playing as loose.”
Gillis had six aces and 12 service points. Dobbs had 24 service receptions and seven digs and Phillips five digs. Bella Brownlee had 32 assists and Annabelle Crowder 23. Jasmine Kelly was credited with nine attack points.
The Lady Eagles had matches with Louisville and Winston Academy Monday and Tuesday and play at Noxapater Thursday.
Lady Tigers excited about tough challenge
By Austin Bishop
Winston County Journal
Early on Monday morning Noxapater head volleyball coach Pam Mills understood what was ahead of her team this week, and she was excited about it.
The Lady Tigers were set to visit Choctaw County on Tuesday before hosting Grace Christian on Thursday. Both have established volleyball program.
“It’s going to be a challenge, but it’s what we need,” Mills said. “We have to to work on being mentally strong and finishing like we started and just work the entire game.”
Thats a few of the things that give the Lady Tigers some trouble in a five set loss to Winston Academy.
Noxapater opened the week with a 27-25, 25-11, 22-25, 25-23 win over Louisville, before falling to the Lady Pats of WA. Noxapater won the first set 25-9, before dropping the second one 26-24 and winning the third one 27-25. WA won the fourth set 25-23 and the deciding fifth by the score of 15-8 to take the match.
In the match against Louisville Lindsey Mils scored 10 points and recorded two aces, one dig, one spike and one save. Jenna Wilkes scored seven points and had four spikes, while Nona Wilkes had four points.
Mia Smith had three digs and scored a point for the Lady Tigers, while Addy Webb scored two points and had one save. Also scoring points were Mary Grace Mills and Madison Riggs, while Mary Grace Mills also had a save.
The match against WA saw Lindsey Mills score 11 points, hammer home six spikes, pick up two aces and two saves and record a dig. Jenna Wilkes had six points scored, three spikes and a save, while Riggs scored five points to go with three spikes, a dig and two saves.
Webb scored four points and had an ace against Winston, while Nona Wilkes scored two points, had a dig and a save. Smith scored a point for the Lady Tigers, while Mary Grace Mills had a save.
The junior varsity beat Louisville 2-0, before falling to Winston 2-1.
