Peebles’ Christian Reed goes up at the net for a kill attempt over Lynchburg’s Brooklyn Laymon in the Lady Indians’ three-set win over the Lady Mustangs on Sept. 27. (Photo by Alisa Mason)

Peebles gets three-set conference victory over scrappy Lady Mustangs – 

By Mark Carpenter – 

Southern Hills Athletic Conference volleyball came to Peebles High School on Sept. 27 as the Lady Indians played host to the Lynchburg Lady Mustangs. Coach Rachel Sims and her Peebles squad were riding a four-game winning streak coming into the match, and when the smoke had cleared, the winning streak was five, as the Lady Indians came from behind in all three sets and handed the Lady Mustangs a 25-22, 25-15, 25-22 defeat.
“Lynchburg certainly didn’t go away tonight,” said Coach Sims after the win. “We don’t use a libero and we try to keep our rotation consistent and it worked out for us tonight. I like our conference and the fact that you really have to show up to play on most nights and that helps us in non-league matches.”
In the opening set, the Lady Mustangs jumped out early behind some strong net play from Brooklyn Laymon, leading at one point 14-10, and then on the serves of Natalie Gray, increasing the margin to 18-12, before the home team shook off the cobwebs and made their move. With senior Madison Pierce at the serving line, the Lady Indians reeled off six straight to quickly tie the set.
Lynchburg bounced back with four of the next six points to take a 22-20 advantage and looked on the verge of winning a set on the road, but the Lady Indians had other plans. After a nice tip play by Jacey Justice gave the serve to Tatum Arey, combined with a block and a kill from Christian Reed, the home side swept the last five points and came-from-behind to take the first set 25-22.

Peebles’ Tatum Arey, right, goes to the left hand for this return attempt as the Lady Indians defeated Lynchburg in three sets on Sept. 27 at PHS. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)

Again in the second set, it was the visitors grabbing the early lead, riding the serves of Morgan Parks to a 5-0 lead, before again the Lady Indians shook off the doldrums. With Pierce serving and Justice strong at the net, Peebles came back to claim a 9-7 lead. Later, three service points from Harlee Wilkinson, stretched the lead to 13-8. This time the home team did not let off the gas, using the serves of Justice to take control of the set at 20-11. A few points later, Pierce dropped back to the service line and finished the set off with three straight to give Peebles the 25-15 win and the commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
Again in the third set, the early advantage went to the Lady Mustangs as they led 8-5 and later extended that out to 16-10 as they tried desperately to stay alive in the match. Back-to-back kills by Justice and Reed began the Peebles comeback as the Lady Indians began to sense the opportunity to end the match in three, but the Lynchburg girls kept the pace, pulling ahead 22-16 and making it look like a fourth set might be forthcoming.
That was before the senior Pierce decided to take matters into her hands when her team regained the serve on her kill. Eight consecutive Pierce serves later and a nice tip by Wilkinson for the final point gave the set to Peebles 25-22 and the match three sets to none, the 10th SHAC win of the season for the Lady Indians.
“This is Harlee’s first year of varsity and she has just matured and grown so much as our setter,” says Sims. “She works hard every single play.”
Results were not available at press time, but the Lady Indians (13-4 overall) faced their biggest match of the season on Tuesday, Oct. 2 as they traveled to Fairfield. The Lady Lions handed Peebles their only conference loss of the season on Sept. 12 and the Lady Indians were looking to draw even in the SHAC standings with a win on the road.
“I like the direction of our program, we seem to be growing, and our JV team is looking good now, “said Coach Sims.
In the JV match on Thursday, it was it was Coach Donnie Beekman’s Peebles squad winning in two sets, 25-15, 25-21.