West begins first round Saturday

The West Brunswick High School volleyball team begins the first round of the Class 3-A state playoffs Saturday at home (time and foe to be determined).

Michael Paul

Jordan Winters volleys the ball over the net in West's victory Oct. 8 over Jacksonville.

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The Trojans finished the conference season 10-2 and were unbeaten against the 3-A teams in the conference.

They are 14-2 overall with one match left (Tuesday against at North Brunswick).

Below are summaries of the Trojans’ final three conference games.

WEST BRUSWICK 3

JACKSONVILLE 0

For a job well done, West Brunswick’s five senior volleyball players watched the final moments of their final home match of the conference season from their seats.

The Lady Trojans routed the Jacksonville Cardinals 25-21, 25-14, 25-12 Oct. 8.

Coach Laura Reeves started her five seniors—Anna Hart, Stacy Jackson, Jordan Shaw, Dreeana Williams and Jordan Winters—in the first game, but midway through the second game that powerful unit was no longer intact as the Trojans had established control en route to the three-game sweep.

“They’re a great bunch of girls,” Reeves said. “They work hard. For the last four years, they’ve been dedicated with summer workouts, the weight room. They all work together well and they didn’t make many mistakes.

“As a group, they’re good volleyball players. They’re good people as well.”

Mindful of other senior classes, Reeves would not say this class was more than the others.

“Every good of seniors is special in their own different way,” she said. “I can’t say that one group is better than the other because everybody has their unique qualities.”

One quality of these seniors and this team is their ability to sustain long rallies. In the first game, junior Kenzie McDuffie hit two service winners as the Trojans took a 6-0 lead.

The Cardinals rallied to tie the score 21-21, but a kill gave West a sideout, and Shaw held serve for three points—the last two service winners—in the 25-21 victory.

The Trojans never let the Cardinals get close in the second game. McDuffie served the Trojans to a 5-0 lead. A kill by Keri Nolan and an ace by Jackson put the Trojans ahead 13-2. An ace by Mattie Tippett and an error by Jacksonville extended the lead to 16-8.

West gained points on a kill by Hart and a kill by Shanae Frink. After an error by the Cardinals, a kill by Carly White put West ahead 20-11.

A kill by Nolan led to the final sideout. An ace by Jackson gave the Trojans a 23-14 lead. A dig by Jackson eventually led to an out-of-bounds shot by Jacksonville. Another dig by Jackson led to the game-winning point by Nolan in the 25-14 victory.

The third game was similar to the first two. After a kill by Nolan and a service winner by Jackson, the lead was 10-2. The game ended with Tippett serving in a 3-0 run, and the final two points came off hits by Breana Gause.

For the match, McDuffie had 35 assists. She also scored 14 points and had four aces.

Winters had nine kills and made nine passes. She scored six points had three aces.

Shaw scored six points, with two aces. She made 16 passes and had three digs.

Hart finished with 15 passes and six kills.

Jackson scored nine points, with three aces, and made nine passes.

White had nine kills and Nolan eight kills.

The victory was the second in two days for the Trojans over Jacksonville.

West won 25-10, 25-19, 25-18 on Oct. 7 at Jacksonville.

White 11 kills and four blocks. Hart had six kills, five blocks and six points. Keri Nolan had seven kills. McDuffie had 22 assists and scored 14 points. Stacy Jackson scored 10 points, Frink eight and Winters seven points.

WEST 3

NEW HANOVER 0

The Trojans finished the conference season 10-2 after beating New Hanover 25-17; 25-22; 25-15 Oct. 9.

Kenzie McDuffie finished with 25 assists and eight points. She had two kills and three digs. Carly White had six kills and two blocks. Jordan Shaw had seven kills and scored seven points. She also had three digs. Anna Hart had eight kills and two points. Stacy Jackson scored seven points and made three digs. Miriah Milliken scored eight points. Jordan Winters scored six points and had four kills. Keri Nolan had two kills. Breana Gause had one kill and one dig. Mattie Tippett had one dig.

MICHAEL PAUL is the sports editor at the Beacon. Reach him at 754-6890 or at sports@brunswickbeacon.com