Lady Phoenix win trip to volleyball Final Four
The sixth- ranked Sonoraville Lady Phoenix volleyball team (40-13, 8-2) outlasted Richmond Academy of Augusta in five sets, 25-22, 21-25, 22-25, 25-14 and 15-9 this week to move on to the next round of the playoffs.
The Phoenix came out sluggish the first set but managed to scratch their way back in and pull out the win. The next two sets went to the Lady Musketeers, despite late surges by Sonoraville. The fourth set was all Phoenix, as the team came alive behind sophomore Alley Cole, who had a majority of her schoolrecord 28 kills in the final two frames. The Phoenix carried that momentum into the fifth set to secure the victory and reach their second Final Four in school history.
“It was a tough atmosphere to play in, and the Richmond girls gave us a heck of a fight,” said Coach Trace Vaughn. “We could have easily given up, but there’s no quit in this team. I’m so excited that they are beginning to believe in
themselves and their hard work is paying off.”
Cole had two blocks to compliment her kill-fest. Raleigh Hooper had a career-high 37 assists, 6 digs, 5 kills, and 5 aces. Abby Chambers had 7 kills, 9 digs, 2 blocks, and an ace; Kayleigh Ownbey had 6 kills and 6 digs; Amber Sparkman had 5 kills,
2 blocks, and an ace; Camden Steely had 19 assists, 2 blocks, and an ace; Gracyn Thompson had 15 digs and an ace; and Megan Grantham had 9 digs and an ace.
The Phoenix will travel to Westminster for their Final Four match-up on Saturday (time was to be determined at press time).