Rome, Unity Christian open seasons with wins
It was a successful start to the season for two local volleyball teams as both Rome and Unity Christian picked up wins in their respective openers Thursday.
The Lady Lions defeated Rockmart in a best-of-five match as they rallied to win the final three sets after dropping the first one. Rockmart took the first set 2523, but Unity Christian reeled off 25-20, 25-21 and 25-11 set wins to clinch the home match.
Alyssa Okubo had a strong effort with three kills and 11 straight serves to seal the win for the Lady Lions. Anna Grace Wells added eight kills, and Sydney Jones contributed five assists and a consistent serve. Other standouts included Mary Jack Williams with 12 digs and Abigail Edwards with an overall good performance offensively and defensively.
Rome went on the road to Dade County and came away with a pair of wins as it defeated the Lady Wolverines 25-18, 25-17 and closed out the night with a 25-20, 25-17 victory over Gordon Lee.
The Lady Wolves were led by Maggie Bing, who ran a balanced offense, and the team got stellar offensive pressure from Donovan Fruland, Jada Johnson, Dei Gibbons, MacKenzie Hight and Jermiya Winston. Rome was also helped by impressive defensive play by Hunter MacFarland, as well as Annalee Reeder, Linley Haynes and Chetta Dodge.
Rome will be back on its home court Tuesday as it hosts Armuchee and Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe in a tri-match starting at 5 p.m.
Unity Christian will travel to Chattooga for a tri-match against the host Lady Indians and LaFayette on Tuesday starting at 5 p.m.
SOFTBALL
Mt. Zion 17, Armuchee 12
The Lady Indians suffered a tough loss in a back-and-forth offensive shootout on the road in non-region action Thursday.
Armuchee (1-3) trailed 7-1 after two innings but cut the deficit to two with four runs in the third. After Mt. Zion pushed its advantage back to 10-5, the Lady Indians put together a seven-run fourth to take a 12-10 lead. Mt.
for the Bulldogs. His younger son, Whit, is a quarterback at the Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
After his five-season run at South Carolina began with promise but ended with the 2-8 tailspin of 2020, Will Muschamp was hired by Smart in January 2021 as a senior defensive analyst. When special teams coordinator Scott Cochran took a leave of absence last August, he became a full-time assistant and worked with special teams and the secondary.
“I was certainly ready to step on the field,” Muschamp said. “I’ve asked players as a head coach, a coordinator, and a position coach for a lot of years to do the best job in your role in the organization. When I was
an analyst, I wanted to do the best job I could do as an analyst. When I was asked to be the special teams coordinator and work with the safeties, then I did the best job I could do there.
“That’s the way I’ve always approached things.”
Muschamp was a safety for the Bulldogs from 1991-94, with his final season overlapping with Smart’s redshirt year. He did not know much about Schumann upon returning to Georgia but apparently developed a quick respect.
Schumann has overseen Georgia’s inside linebackers since 2016, helping develop the likes of Roquan Smith, Monty Rice and Nakobe Dean.
“When you really look at coach Smart’s seven seasons here at Georgia, the two longest-tenured coaches are Glenn and (running backs coach) Dell McGee,” Muschamp said. “The
consistency of their position groups is probably the best that’s been here in those seven years. Glenn has recruited extremely well at his position and is just an outstanding football coach.
“I’ve really enjoyed getting to work with Glenn because of the football intelligence he has and the passion he brings to the job every single day, because those things are really important, and players see that. They see how invested he is in them.”
Muschamp and Schumann have been given the task of revamping a defense that lost five members in the first round of April’s NFL draft, but Muschamp certainly has the track record to take that on. His LSU defense in 2003 not only spearheaded a BCS championship run but led the nation in fewest yards (252.0) and points (11.0) allowed, and his 2007 Auburn defense ranked sixth
nationally in total defense and scoring defense.
He has worked under Nick Saban and Smart and has a national championship under each, with the Bulldogs having earned the crown last season for the first time since 1980.
“I can probably count on one hand the ‘not-so-good’ practices we had last year,” Muschamp said. “That’s a lot credit to our young men on our team because of the leadership and things like that, but that’s also the culture that’s been set of ‘that’s how we’re going to practice at Georgia.’ You go to a Tuesday practice here, and it’s a thing of beauty.
“That’s the way you’re supposed to get after it, but it’s what’s expected. It’s what’s set from the top all the way down in the organization, and it’s understood that’s the way we are going to do things. I credit coach Smart with that.”