High-Spirited Lady Flyers Embark on a New Season
The Sandhills Community College volleyball team opens the season on Friday at the Surry Invitational with five returnees, 12 first-year players and early indications of a strong chemistry.
Ranked No. 8 in this week's NJCAA Division III preseason poll, Coach Alicia Riggan's squad was edged 25-14, 19-25, 25-19, 20-25 and 17-19 by St. Andrews University in a scrimmage on Wednesday. It was arranged after Thursday's scheduled season opener against Lenoir CC was rescheduled for September 1.
"The energy of this group of girls is different from any other I've ever coached," Riggan said. "They're playing together, they're helping each other. I think they are genuinely excited for each other. Those are things that are hard to coach.
"Every set we had a different lineup. This was a chance to give everyone some practice. Obviously that team was a lot bigger than us, but we dug the ball up. I think we surprised them and forced a lot of errors."
The Lady Flyers were led statistically by freshman Lexi Allen with 17 kills, 10 digs and five aces against a Lady Knights squad that includes juniors and seniors. Sophomore Mya Mallard added eight kills and freshman Keke Lawrence was credited with seven kills and three blocks. Freshman Shelby Hull had eight digs and sophomore setter Camryn Lowe contributed 22 assists and three aces.
"I want to win and I hate that it ended on a free ball going out of bounds, but it was a great learning opportunity for the girls," Riggan said. "To play five sets against them, I'm super-excited."
Friday's schedule calls for the Flyers to meet Surry in Dobson at 3 p.m. followed by Bryant and Stratton at 7 p.m. On Saturday they face USC Sumter at noon. The games will be live streamed on
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCsz56ECoEk2fQrg6vZniNw?app=desktop.
The Flyers travel to Fayetteville Tech on Tuesday before playing their first regular-season home match against Guilford Tech at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
Lady Flyers Have Shoes to Fill Up Front
Riggan's squad heads into the new campaign, looking for players to replace the production of the team's departed top five leaders in kills, including two-time All-American middle hitter Carley Modlin and all-region outside hitter Morrigan Denman.
Mallard, who was recruited as a setter, has been one of the leaders in kills in the two scrimmages. Others vying for playing time on the rightside and outside are freshmen Allen (Pinecrest), Kayla Sadowski (Harnett Central), Mackenzie Swett and Maddie Harris (Purnell Swett), Aleiah Lowery (St. Pauls).
"It was a transition from setting," Mallard, a product of Athens Drive Magnet High School said on Wednesday. "I'm really excited to be hitting this season. When I get on the court, I want to get kills, I want to get points."
The other returnees include setter Camryn Lowe, a second team all-region selection last season, libero Mariah Daffron, who led the team in digs, and setter Abby Quick, who did not see action until the beach volleyball season because of illness.
The other newcomers are liberos Shelby Hull (Union Pines), Amya Curtis (Voyager Academy) and L'Asia Jackson (Pinecrest), setter/right-sides Kaitlyn Locklear Purnell Swett) and Savannah Lowery (St. Pauls). Locklear and Savannah Lowery were also setters in high school.
According to Hull, the team came together almost immediately when practices began.
"It started in the preseason, being talkative and being loud," she said. "I think it really was our energy for the most part that helped us today because both teams had all the fundamentals.
This was a good team to scrimmage because they are a four-year college. That was kind of intimidating at first, but since we did so well right out of the gate I think a lot of us are more comfortable."
Flyers Return to Division III
The Flyers are back in Division III Region 10 this season competing against Central Carolina CC, Patrick Henry CC, Rockingham CC and Southwest Virginia CC. As they did back in 2019, the team will make a Labor Day Weekend trip to northern Ohio for the Owens CC Invitational hosted by the 2019 national champions.
Riggan will be assisted by Kristin Hylton, Lindsay McManamon and Jacob Marley.
"I think we have a lot of players who want to win and want to get better," Mallard said. "They put in the extra work and they fight hard. The team bonding happened so quickly and it's really good to have. I think we we're going to have a really good season."
C. Bergmann