Calhoun shows progress with sweep of non-area tri-match
The Calhoun Lady Jackets have had an up-and-down start to their season and much of that has been due to inexperience and injury. But over the last couple weeks they have started to round into form and get healthy, and the results on the court have shown it.
The Lady Jackets continued their recent surge by sweeping a trimatch at home on Thursday night as they picked up non-area wins over LaFayette and Woodland. Calhoun coach Randy Rice said it was another performance where he could see the growth of his team on display.
“It was a great night for us,” said Rice. “We’re still learning to win and do what it takes to win. These girls haven’t been through enough matches on this level to learn how to win consistently yet. But they are starting to understand that you have to be mentally tough in these matches. You can’t get down when something doesn’t go our way. You just have to fight through it, and we’re starting to do that. We’re also getting fully healthy after battling some injuries early on in the schedule.”
The Lady Jackets (159), who have now won six straight matches, started the night with a hardfought battle against LaFayette. Calhoun earned the advantage in the first set, taking it 27-25 after the teams went back and forth. The second set belonged to LaFayette as they dominated for long stretches before finishing it off with a 25-13 score. But Calhoun bounced right back to take the decisive third set, 25-22, thanks to several all-out effort, clutch plays from multiple athletes.
The second match of the night was a little more one-sided for Calhoun as they showed superiority in all aspects, especially serving, to defeat Woodland in two sets (25-15, 25-12). Senior Erin Davis had an impressive stretch of serves in the match that included several aces and spanned 11 straight points for the Lady Jackets.
“That’s another one of those things that shows we’re learning how to win is understanding where we need to attack the other team’s weakness,” said Rice. “Woodland was having some problems on serve receive, we found some openings and they started to fall in. In the first match, I wasn’t really pleased in stretches with our serving because we had a lot of unforced errors. But to be able to come back in the second match and serve the way we did led by our senior Erin was good to see as a coach.”
Davis finished the night with 11 aces total. Also contributing big performances was Ashlyn Brzozoski with 12 digs and four aces, Anna George with nine kills and four blocks and Emma Kate Smith with seven kills, five digs and two aces.
Several other Lady Jackets broke into the stats column, including Erin Kelly with five kills, two blocks and three aces, Sophie Stewart with five kills, Railey Greeson with four digs and three aces, Callie Ledford with three aces and Jenna Santori with three digs. Anna Hoblitzell also added two kills and a block.
The wins on Thursday completed a perfect week for Calhoun as they defeated Chattooga and Armuchee at home on Monday and followed that up with home wins over Gordon Central and Adairsville on Tuesday. The Lady Jackets cur- rently sit at 2-1 in Area 1-AAA play as they try to break a two-year state tournament drought.
Rice said he is impressed with his team’s improvement, but he still thinks they can improve greatly over the next few weeks as they aim to rise to the occasion down the stretch of the season.
“We’re climbing,” said Rice. “If we eliminate unforced errors and serving balls into the net, we’re going to be a good team. As long as we consistently hit the ball and knock people off the net, we’ll do well.
“We’re going to be as good as our leadership demands. Without our girls pushing themselves, we won’t make a lot more progress. But I am confident in them that they are going to keep working hard. I still don’t think we’ve played our best volleyball yet. Hopefully, we are going to peak around area tournament and state tournament time.”
The Lady Jackets are on the road on Thursday for a big area matchup at rival Sonoraville. They will also face Union County that night in a non-area contest. Their matches start at 6 p.m. Calhoun will then travel to Coahulla Creek on Saturday to compete in the At the Creek Tournament.
In other recent prep volleyball action:
Sonoraville goes 2-1 at quad match
Sonoraville traveled to Adairsville on Thursday night and won two of three in a quad match, one of those being an Area 1-AAA win.
The Lady Phoenix ( 6- 13, 1-2) dominated Therell in their first match of the evening in two sets (25-6, 25-7). They then dropped a match to North Paulding in two sets (25-12, 25-14), but bounced back to end the night on a high note thanks to a two-set area win over Adairsville (259, 25-16).
“We are working on consistency right now,” said Sonoraville coach Trace Vaughn. “We have to play at a high level every time we step on the floor, and right now we may do that one game, then just have no movement and little effort the very next match. Some of that is maturity, but a lot of it is just needing to be more passionate and confident in our approach to the game. It was definitely good to end the night with our first area win, and hopefully that will be the start of something big.”
Sonoraville captain Bree Steely paced the effort with 21 assists, five kills and five aces. Skylar Huskins had nine kills, six aces and five digs, Abby Chambers had seven kills and three aces, Brooke Childs had seven assists and five aces, Anissa Hales had eight digs and two aces, Kinsey Wilson had five digs and two kills, Alea Johnson had three kills, three aces and four assists, Sam Lewis had four kills, Lauren DeFoor had three aces and three kills, Raleigh Hooper had four kills, Hannah Key had three aces and Alexis Lincoln had two aces.
The Lady Phoenix will be back home on Thursday as they host a tri-match against Union County and area rival Calhoun starting at 5 p.m. at the Sonoraville Rec.