Aces Wild for the Lady Flyers on Pink Out Night
With the players on both teams and many spectators bedecked in pink, the Sandhills Community College volleyball team eased by Guilford Tech 25-11, 25-4 and 25-15 on Thursday's Pink Out Night at The Hangar.
The Lady Flyers were dominant at the service line, recording a season-high 20 aces, including eight by freshman L'Asia Jackson.
Coupled with Davidson-Davie CC's forfeiture of its two recent wins over the Flyers because of the use of an ineligible player, Coach Alicia Riggan's squad improved to 17-5 overall while the Titans fell to 1-14.
The Flyers have already clinched first place in the Region 10 conference. They take a record of 7-0 into Saturday's 11 a.m. Sophomore Day match at home against a Patrick Henry CC team that is 1-6 in the conference and 1-11 overall. That will be the final regular season match.
The one-sided second set included five aces by Jackson, two by Kaitlyn Locklear and one by Camryn Lowe. Jackson is fourth in NJCAA Division III with 58 aces and Lowe is 14th with 45. As a team the Flyers are seventh with 209.
"Coach Hylton (Kristin) calls out the services (zones) and does a phenomenal job," Riggan said. "When they were in the gym this summer, I could quickly tell we were going to be a great serving team.
"They are all aggressive and L'Asia has the lefty jump serve that throws opponents off. Tonight was one of our top nights for serving for sure."
Led by Lexi Allen with nine kills, and KeKe Lawrence with seven, the Flyers' kill percentage of .315 was its third highest of the season. Lawrence added three block solos to her season total of 53 that is the second most in Division III.
Following Saturday's match, the Flyers will prepare to host the Region 10 tournament on Saturday, October 23.
"I felt we took a break in the third set," Riggan said of Thursday's match. "I'm proud of them for getting another win. Now we have one more regular season game and then we have to get focused and reset for the tournament because it's one day."
The fundraising for the the Pink Out events that began at Sandhills 11 years ago originally supported the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. In recent years, the fundraising that was limited in the past two because of COVID, has been in support of a local family.
"We had several cancer survivors here tonight," Riggan said. "It's always one of the most important events we have because there are so many people we know that are battling some form of cancer or have lost their life to cancer.
"It's very near and dear to my heart and hopefully we can get back to our normal fundraising. It's a fun thing that our girls and the community get excited about so we can help someone in the community."
Freshman outside hitter J'Lasia Ray, a Hoke County High School graduate, who has been inactive this season because of a torn ACL that required surgery last December, has experienced the disease in and outside of her family.
"It was a lot for my family to deal with, but we got through it and I'm always here for anybody that has that problem," she said.
Members of the Hoke varsity and jayvee teams were enthusiastic guests of the Flyers. The Lumberton High School team has been invited to Saturday's match, providing an another opportunity to showcase the facilities at Sandhills for prospective student-athletes.
"They had their chant going and it was exciting to see they were comfortable to come in and do that," Riggan said of the Hoke players.
Ray enjoyed seeing her former teammates and coaches.
"I love the support," she said. "Even though I'm not playing, they still came out to support our team and that means a lot. I'll keep working and one day I'll be back on the court."
C. Bergmann