Peebles’ Angel Gray and Kennedy Dick go high at the net for a block attempt as the Lady Indians battled Fairfield in the August 11 Southern Hills Athletic Conference Volleyball Preview. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
fayetteville hosts Friday night volleyball action
It’s a meeting at the net between Manchester’s Jaela Horner (15) and West Union’s Elayna Kingsolver as the two county squads matched up in last Friday’s SHAC Volleyball Preview. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
North Adams sophomore Paige Evans (4) makes a return surrounded by teammates as the Lady Devils faced off with host Fayetteville in the 2023 SHAC Volleyball Preview. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
The 2023 high school volleyball season in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference got underway on Friday, August 11 as Fayetteville High School played host to the annual conference Volleyball Preview Night, with all 10 teams participating in a format that saw each match up consist of two sets played to 21 each.
The first contest of the preview matched up what many believe to be the top two teams in the SHAC, the Fairfield Lady Lions and the Peebles Lady Indians. Peebles proved to be the “top dog” on this night, sweeping the two sets, 21-15, 21-6.
The Lady Indians came out fast in the first set, jumping out to an 8-2 advantage before Fairfield came alive and tallied seven of the next eight points to tie the seat at 9 apiece. Peebles pushed back in front behind the strong serving of senior Payton Johnson, who is playing high school volleyball for the first time and looked like she had been there for all four years.
Another Peebles senior, Kennedy Dick, is manning the setter position for the first time and besides setting up numerous teammates for kills, her service points helped give her team a 17-12 lead. A later kill by Angel Gray accounted for the 21st and final point of the first set.
The second set was all Peebles from the get-go as the Tribe rode the serves of Abigail Smalley to a quick 10-2 advantage. With Johnson again at the service line, the Lady Indians continued to pour it on, moving ahead 20-5 on a Baylie Johnston kill and finishing off the set on a Fairfield service error.
”We came out pretty strong tonight,” said Peebles head coach Annie Gustin. “We have a strong group of upperclassmen this year, including seven seniors. We’re excited for a big season and we have big expectations. We’re still working out some kinks. We have some of the best hitters in the league but we can’t do that without the pass and the set and we struggle with that sometimes.”
The 2023 Peebles varsity volleyball roster includes seniors Rylee Barr, Payton Johnson, Baylie Johnston, Kennedy Dick, Amber Scott, Ellie Stephens and Caydence Carroll, juniors Angel Gray, Ashlyn Abbott and Abigail Smalley and sophomore Aiva Brumley.
The next two county squads to take the court on Friday night were the West Union Lady Dragons, under the direction of second-year head coach Kiersten Rowe, and the Manchester Lady Greyhounds, led by first-year head coach Myriah Cracraft. Both teams are relatively young and somewhat rebuilding but on Friday, they put on the best show of the night, splitting the two sets, Manchester taking the first 29-27 and West Union the second 21-14.
The Lady Hounds took the early lead in the opening set behind the serves of Jacey Farley before the Lady Dragons rallied behind a kill from freshman Jocelyn Hall. The set remained tight but a Farley ace stretched the Lady Hounds’ lead to 19-14, but back came West Union with a vengeance as the strong service work of freshman Maddie Stout along with a Korynne Blanton kill evened the set at 20 and sent it into volleyball’s version of overtime.
The two teams then exchanged points, the Lady Dragons getting kills from Blanton and Elayna Kingsolver with the Hounds getting a service ace from Jaylise Applegate. The score was tied at 27 after another Hall kill but the final two points went to Manchester for the 29-27 triumph.
The Lady Dragons looked like a different team in the second set, taking a 7-2 advantage and extending that out to 14-5. Up 20-14, the West Union girls got an ace from Kingsolver to finish the match off.
“We started off slow tonight but finally came into it,”said Coach Rowe. “We are a very young team with only two seniors so we are still trying to work out the kinks. Overall I thought we played well and have high hopes for the season. I think this year in particular we are really playing as team and everyone has an important role and they all are aware of that.”
Coach Cracraft commented on her team’s performance. “We’re a really young team and with that said, I think we played well together tonight. We have a very competitive group of girls who don’t give up easily, which we saw tonight in the first set. We’re currently learning a new rotation so there was a little confusion on the court but we look forward to getting back in the gym next week and working on things before our first regular season game.”
The 2023 West Union Lady Dragons volleyball roster consists of seniors Elayna Kingsolver and Korynne Blanton, juniors Ashlah Staten and Lily Randolph, sophomores Shelbi Weakley and Emily Stapleton, and freshmen Maddie Stout, Jocelyn Hall, Violet Randolph and Annabelle McIntosh.
Suiting up for Lady Hounds volleyball this season will be Bristynn McClanahan, Kaydence Newland, Kenidee Turner, Maddie Dunn, Jacey Farley, Jaylise Applegate, Taylor Rideout, Jaela Horner, Rylie Young, Addilyn Hunter, Kaylan Bradford, Abby Lucas, Ellianna Applegate and Abby Neria.
The final match up of SHAC Preview Night saw the host team, the Fayetteville Lady Rockets, battling the conference’s perennial powers, the North Adams Lady Devils. The Lady Devils are yet another young and rebuilding team in the county and on Friday night, they showed some growing pains as they split the two sets with the home team.
The Lady Devils raced to a 10-4 lead in the first set behind some strong serving from Aulbrea Meade, Natalie Ragan and Kirsten Campbell. Later kills from Meade and Katelynn Boerger gave North Adams a 16-7 advantage, followed up by a kill and service ace from newcomer Paige Evans, who served her team to a 20-8 lead with the final point of the set coming on a Fayetteville service error.
The Lady Rockets, under long-time head coach Sharon Sheets,rebounded in the second set and led from wire to wire on their way to a 21-13 victory.
The 2023 North Adams varsity volleyball roster includes seniors Izzy Grooms and Kirsten Campbell, juniors Katelynn Boerger and Aulbrea Meade, sophomores Paige Evans, Addison Shupert and Natalie Ragan, and freshmen Mia Kingsley, Morgan Wheeler and Elizabeth Raines,
The regular season begins next week for the county’s volleyball squads. West Union will open on August 21 at Ripley (SHAC), Manchester on August 24 at Whiteoak (SHAC), Peebles on August 21 at home with Piketon and North Adams on August 22 at Ripley (SHAC).