Lady Flyers Complete Perfect Region 10 Regular Season on Sophomore Day
In a Sophomore Day classic, the Sandhills Community College volleyball team completed Region 10 regular season play with a 10-0 record after a 21-25, 30-28, 22-25, 37-35 and 18-16 victory over Caldwell Tech on Saturday at The Hangar.
The marathon match lasted two hours and 39 minutes with the Lady Flyers escaping a match point seven times in the fourth set before prevailing and then winning the tie-breaker set that also went to extra points.
Before a large and festive crowd for the tri-match, Division II Davidson-Davie CC then swept Caldwell.
After Lady Flyer sophomores L'Asia Jackson, Mackenzie Swett, Abby Quick, KeKe Lawrence and JaLasia Ray were honored, a Division II Storm squad that improved to 20-5 defeated the home team 23-25, 13-25 and 17-25 in the final match of the day.
Ranked No. 10 in Division III, Coach Alicia Riggan's squad takes an overall record of 18-12 into a 6 p.m. home match on Thursday against Division II Lenior CC to close out the regular season.
"I told the girls I never coached and I never played in a game that went to 37-35," said Riggan who was coaching in her 400th match in 14 years at Sandhills to go along with the hundreds more she participated in as a club, high school and college player.
"I'm just proud of the girls. It was back and forth for both teams. There was just a determination that the ball wasn't going to hit the floor. They (Caldwell) were aggressive and scrappy. We didn't start out the way I wanted, but I'm glad we finished the way we needed to."
The five sophomores were all big contributors. Middle hitters Lawrence and Swett led the winners with 18 and 14 kills respectively. Lawrence was also credited with a college career-high nine block solos.
Jackson, a libero contributed 41 digs and Quick, a defensive specialist was credited with 17. Outside hitter Ray added four kills and eight digs.
Among the freshmen, Lannah Huneycutt contributed 27 assists and eight digs. Alexis Hinson was credited with 22 assists and 11 digs, and Olivia Barlowe added 18 digs.
The Region 10 tournament gets underway on Thursday with two quarterfinal matches. Although game times were not yet available, the Lady Flyers will meet the Patrick Henry CC vs Caldwell winner in one semi-final on Saturday at Rockingham CC in Wentworth, NC.
Central Carolina CC meets the Southwest Virginia CC vs Rockingham CC winner in the other semi-final. The winner of the championship match that follows will host the Mid-Atlantic District Championship on October 29.
According to Swett, there were tears shed in the locker room that came from all of the hard work that went into winning the match, the goal of a perfect regular season achieved and the emotions of Sophomore Day.
"Finishing 10-0 in conference is an expectation here," the Purnell Swett High School grad said. "We win here. We get rings here. We hang banners here. And it's an expectation for Coach Riggan and the rest of the coaching staff."
The season has also been special for Ray, a product of Hoke County High School, who sat out her freshman season because of knee surgery before participating in beach volleyball during the spring. An outside hitter, she is fourth on the team in kills in her comeback season.
"I especially like the love that Sandhills has for its athletes like the faculty, parents and everything," she said. "It's just a great environment to play in. It's really tough when you don't execute because you want to make everyone proud."
According to Riggan each of the sophomores have been a leader in their own way.
"I'm super-proud of them for the hard work and dedication they've put in for two years," she said. "They were probably the first group since I've been here that spent all summer doing workouts in the weight room and open gyms and really setting the tone and laying the foundation for the new group of girls.
"I think it speaks volumes when they don't have to be here and choose to be here."
Following a close first set, the Lady Flyers were outplayed in the process of losing to Davidson for the second time this season.
"They have a good program and they're doing really well in their division," Riggan said. "I hate losing, but it was a good thing to help us get ready for Lenoir next week and then the region tournament."
Final Division III Region 10 Regular Season Standings: 1. Sandhills 10-0 2. Central Carolina 7-3, 3. Rockingham 6-4, 4. Caldwell 5-5, 5. Patrick Henry 2-8, 6. Southwest Virginia 0-10.
C. Bergmann
