North Adams, Fairfield will host – 

By Mark Carpenter – 

The fall sports seasons are upon us with all the local squads putting in practice time nearly every day of the week to prepare.  Fans of volleyball and soccer in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference can get their first glimpses of their favorites in action this weekend as the conference holds its annual Preview Nights.
The action begins on Friday, Aug. 11 at North Adams High School with the SHAC Volleyball Preview, consisting of the teams playing two sets to 21 in each contest.  At 5 p.m. it will be the Eastern Lady Warriors, considered as an up and coming team in the conference, facing off with the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats.  Following that opening match up, it will be the Ripley Lady Jays battling the Fayetteville Lady Rockets.
The first Adams County team to take the floor will be the Peebles Lady Indians under the direction of new head coach Rachel Sims.  The Lady Indians will be in the third contest of the night, facing off with another team considered an SHAC challenger in the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs.
At press time, there was some question as to whether West Union would be fielding a varsity volleyball squad, so the North Adams JV team will fill in for the meantime, facing the Fairfield Lady Lions in the fourth match up of the preview.  Finally, two Adams County squads will face off in the preview finale as Coach Kaci Compton and her Manchester Lady Hounds will tangle with the host and SHAC favorite North Adams Lady Devils under the guidance of Coach Katie Ragan.
It’s off to the pitch at Fairfield High School on Saturday, Aug. 12 as the Lions host the Soccer Preview, which begins at 3 p.m. with the Lynchburg and Peebles girls battling.  In each match up, the girls’ teams will play a 30-minute half, followed by the same with their boys’ teams after a 10-minute warm up period.
At 4:30 p.m., it will be Ripley taking on North Adams, followed at 6 p.m. by Fayetteville and Eastern Brown.
The final half of the evening will have the host Lions and West Union closing out the action.
All of the admission proceeds from these two previews go toward the awards that the SHAC gives away at the end of each sports season.