Lady Jacket volleyball team advances to Sweet 16

For the first time in school history, the Lady Jacket volleyball team won its first round of state play and has advanced to Sweet 16 action.

The Lady Jackets bested Griffin High 3-2, and will next take on Shaw High on Saturday. The winner will play the winner of Lovett High and Sonoraville High match on Wednesday.

Against Griffin, the Lady Jackets started off fast and won the first set 25-15 but lost the second set 25-19. The teams also split the third and fourth sets to send the match to a tiebreaker, which Wayne County won 15-11. This game was punctuated with a set-winning kill shot by Sophie Fender.

“We knew going into the game it would be important for us to play aggressively at the net and to hit as much as we could,” said coach Kala Hobbs. “They were really athletic and knew that our only shot at getting the win was to make them defend some really hard exchanges. I feel like that is the best we have done all season with putting pressure on the opposing team. This has been a really great season, and I am so proud of the way these girls have truly taken it upon themselves to create a team atmosphere that everyone deserves to experience.”

Hobbs said it was Fender’s best contest of the season. She had a career-high nine kills, six blocks, three aces and seven serves that resulted in a score.

“Hannah Duke continued to play well all the way around, and her back-row hits really created an issue for Griffin’s defense,” Hobbs said. “Carsyn Ward and Anna Harris rounded out our hitting tonight.”

Ward had seven kills and three blocks, and Harris had three kills. Alyssa Robinson had three blocks for the night.

“Gracie Valosen had an amazing night setting and led the team in assists,” Hobbs said. “She has really grown into her role on this team and has stepped up tremendously in these big games. Karli Keith earned a hit tonight as well as three digs. Karli has played on the defensive end for us all season, and I was glad to see that when we put her in a position to get a hit, she delivered. Klaire Murray had her best game of the season with five digs and two returns from Griffin’s 6-foot-2 hitter. Kayle Arnold and Addi Mullis rounded out the defense with two playable digs. Kayle also had a big save late in the third set that would give us the lead that we could eventually take on to win.”