A pair of West Union volleyball standouts recently reached the career milestone of 500 digs. Junior Violet Randolph, left, hit the mark in a September 4 match with Fayetteville, while junior Annabelle McIntosh reached the 500 mark in the September 12 win over Whiteoak. (Photos courtesy of West Union Athletics)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
With two more conference wins last week, the North Adams Lady Devils volleyball squad has stretched their Southern Hills Athletic Conference winning streak to 33 matches with their eyes on a third consecutive gold ball trophy. Last week, the Lady Devils went 2-1 conference wins over Eastern Brown and Whiteoak sandwiched around a non-conference loss at Zane Trace.
At press time, the Lady Devils offense was led by two-thirds of the Pistole triplets, with Emma and Ava Pistole second and third in the SHAC with 95 and 91 kills respectively. Freshman Sophia Barlow leads the team in blocks with 29 (second in the SHAC), while senior setter Natalie Ragan keeps adding to her massive career assist total, leading the SHAC with 295. Senior Addison Shupert has become a serving weapon, fifth in the SHAC with 24 aces.
In West Union, Coach Kiersten Rowe and her Lady Dragons are still looking for that magic formula that translates effort into wins. The Lady Dragons had a 1-2 week, following up losses to Northwest and Fairfield with a conference win over Whiteoak, leaving them at 3-9 overall, 3-4 in SHAC play.
Senior Shelbi Weakley leads the Lady Dragons in kills with 84, good for fifth in the conference. Junior Madison Stout is tops in the SHAC in digs with 218, while teammates Violet Randolph and Annabelle McIntosh both recorded their 500th career digs in recent matches. Randolph has also been solid at the service line, serving up 30 aces through 12 matches.
At Peebles, first-year head coach Mariah Page and the Lady Indians stood at 4-7 0verall, 3-3 in conference action. Last week the Lady Indians went 1-2, dropping a non-conference match with Piketon, then winning in straight sets conference match up with Whiteoak and then being upset in conference play by Ripley in four sets.
Peebles has been led in kills by senior Aiva Brumley, sophomore Amryn Carroll and freshman Jillian Bailey with Carroll and sophomore Kendall Myers topping the squad in digs. This Thursday night (September 18), the Lady Indians will be hosting Eastern Brown in a “Blocking Out Cancer” match with all proceeds going to a local family battling the disease.
Down by the river, Coach Morgan Johnson and her Manchester Lady Greyhounds are still trying to find a groove and stand at 2-6 at press time, with both victories coming in conference play. victories over Whiteoak and Ripley. Last week, the Lady Hounds dropped matches to Portsmouth Clay and Fairfield along with the win over Ripley.
On tap this week for the Lady Hounds are a home match with Lynchburg on September 16 and a long non-conference trek to South Point on September 17.
