CALEDONIA — Elisha Collins and Morgan Smith are making sure the future is now for the Caledonia High School volleyball team.
One season after losing a core group of seniors, Caledonia took its first step to advancing to the state tournament Tuesday by sweeping Aberdeen 3-0 in the first round of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 1 playoffs. Set scores were 25-10, 25-16, 25-18.
Caledonia (17-7) will play the winner of Tuesday’s match between Lewisburg and St. Andrew’s. Results of that match weren’t available at press time.
Collins paced Caledonia with 10 kills (four aces), while Smith, a setter, had two kills and three aces. Ashley Langford and Sarah Freeman also had seven kills, and Cara Hopper had three kills and two aces to lead a balanced effort.
With only two seniors — Langford and Stevi Carter — on the roster, Caledonia coach Samantha Brooks should have a bright future as Collins and Smith get more comfortable with each other and grow stronger physically.
“They have lot of potential,” Brooks said. “It is getting them to do the fundamentals correctly and not be sloppy. When they play clean ball they are amazing.”
Brooks said both players “need to think about it until it comes naturally.” That was evident several times during the match when Collins, a 6-foot sophomore who plays in all rotations, didn’t get her footwork in line to have an effective approach to a swing. Smith also was guilty of not having her feet under her and ready to set the ball for teammates, but Brooks said those things will get corrected with repetition.
“Sometimes (Morgan’s) feet are a little bit slow, but when she gets her feet there and she squares up, she has great hands,” Brooks said. “To be consistent you have to do the fundamentals and your technique has to be correct. Every once in a while you can wing it and it will work out for you, but if you don’t have your fundamentals and you’re not sound in your fundamentals you’re not consistent.”
Smith stepped in this season in place of senior Marlana Dolan. Brooks said Smith had “big shoes to fill” and has improved so much. She said Collins, who has played club volleyball with Tupelo Junior and Mississippi Juniors, is very hard to read because she has a “poker face.” She said Collins has the potential to channel that emotion and to play more consistently and to be even more dominating at the net.
Caledonia dominated the first set and then watched as Aberdeen regained its rhythm and made the final two games more competitive.
Aberdeen coach Marquis Burnett was pleased with his team’s improved play late in the match. Even with several seniors, Burnett said only one of those players has played for at least two years. He said the team hopes to keep its eighth-graders and younger players in the program so they can mature as players and help the Lady Bulldogs get back to a point where they are challenging the Lady Confederates.
Caledonia swept Aberdeen in all three meetings this season.
“We did good just to get to this point,” Burnett said. “A lot of people didn’t think we would get here . We have improved 100 percent (since the beginning of the season.”
Despite the slip in play in the final two games, Brooks was pleased with her team’s showing and is looking forward to the next step.
“It seems like every game we let up just a little bit and the scores show that,” Brooks said. “We talked about remaining calm, especially in that last game (when Aberdeen got as close as 19-17) because they need to be put in that position so they can work themselves out of it.”
n Starkville 3, Ridgeland 0: At Starkville, The Lady Yellow Jackets (17-10-2) wrapped up an undefeated Class 2, Region 2 season with a sweep at the Starkville Sportsplex.
Set scores were 25-13, 25-8, 25-9.
Khristian Carr had six kills, April Reese had four kills and two solo blocks, Margaret Allison had three kills and seven aces, Wheeler Richardson had seven aces and 14 assists, and Grace Drumheller had three digs.
On Monday, Starkville beat Callaway 3-0. Set scores were 25-11, 25-19, 25-17.
Carr had 11 kills and four aces, Richardson had six kills, 12 aces, and 26 assists, Michaela Mills had five kills and three aces, Allison had nine kills and five digs, and Reese had seven kills and six digs.
Starkville will play host to Hernando at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Newell-Grissom Building on the campus of Mississippi State.
Soccer
n Starkville Academy 2, Madison-Ridgeland Academy 1: At Madison, Payton Allen and Sallie Kate Richardson scored goals in the first 17 minutes to lead the Lady Volunteers (8-5) to their victory in the first round of the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA playoffs.
Tiffany Huddleston assisted on Allen’s goal 37 seconds into the match. Jessica Dennis assisted on what proved to be the game-winning in the 17th minute.
MRA pushed forward and used three forwards late in the match, as it scored with five minutes remaining.
“We talked about getting off to a fast start and not having to chase the game,” Starkville Academy coach Robert Gardner said. “We didn’t think MRA was a better team. We didn’t think they showed it in the regular season, and we don’t think any team is untouchable. We had the kids prepared and they made us look smart.”
Starkville Academy will play at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at Presbyterian Christian.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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