Sonoraville earns split; tops Gilmer but falls to Pickens

MBaron@CalhounTimes.com

The Sonoraville Lady Phoenix volleyball team walked away with a tri-match split against Gilmer County and Pickens County on Tuesday at Pickens County High School. Sonoraville dropped the first match to host Pickens County 2-1 (25-19, 23-25, 16-18), but rebounded for a win over Gilmer County 2-1 (25-21, 24-26, 15-6).

“Had you told me that we would win one and lose one today, I would have guessed it to be the other way around, but that’s why we play the game,” head coach Trace Vaughn said in an emailed statement. “You never know when a team is going to get on a roll and play a solid match against you, and that’s exactly what Pickens did. It didn’t help that we kept giving them points, but I’d say they earned that win. We continue to struggle with our serve receive, so we have to get that fixed before the area tournament. Thankfully, we bounced back to defeat a tough Gilmer team. Amber Sparkman really showed up and showed out tonight. It was definitely the best she’s played in her short career.”

Sparkman finished with 11 kills, five blocks and two digs. Jaye Moore had three kills, six aces, and two digs; Megan Grantham had five digs; Lauren DeFoor had 6 digs; Camden Steely had 15 assists and two digs; Raleigh Hooper had 19 assists, seven aces, 10 kills, and two blocks; Abby Chambers had eight aces, 10 kills, and four digs; Kayleigh Ownbey had 5 kills and two aces; Alley Cole had 6 kills, 4 blocks, and four aces; Alexis Lincoln had two kills and two digs; and Gracyn Thompson had seven digs and three aces.