Region 10 Champion Lady Flyers Host District Tournament on Saturday
The Region 10 regular season and tournament titles secured, the Sandhills Community College volleyball team will be seeking a berth at the NJCAA Division III National Championship when it hosts the Mid-Atlantic District Tournament next Saturday at The Hangar.
The No. 1 seeded Lady Flyers advanced with a 25-9, 25-23 and 25-21 sweep of Caldwell Tech, and a 14-25, 25-22, 25-12 and 25-12 victory over Central Carolina CC on Saturday at the Region 10 tournament held at Rockingham Community College.
Following the matches, Lady Flyer sophomore Keke Lawrence was named the Region 10 Player of the Year. Along with Lawrence, sophomore L'Asia Jackson and freshman Lannah Huneycutt were first team selections. Sophomores Mackenzie Swett and Abby Quick made the second team.
Including the regular season, Region 10 Coach of the Year Alicia Riggan's squad, now 20-13 overall, won all 12 of its Region 10 matches.
"I'm super-proud of the girls," the coach said, following the victories over the Cobras and the Cougars. "They set goals this year and one was winning the region and one was winning the tournament. So we've checked out two of the goals.
"I told them that I wanted them to enjoy today and then I want us to get ready for the next step. It's a whole new season. It's a pretty big deal that you could have the No.1, No. 2 and No. 11 teams playing for two chances to go to nationals. I think it's going to be an awesome day of volleyball."
District Field Made Up of Nationally Ranked Teams
The 11th ranked Lady Flyers take on Region 20 champion and No. 2 ranked Owens CC (OH) (24-6) at 11 a.m. on Saturday under the the three-team round robin format.
At 1 p.m., Butler County (19-2) will meet Owens CC (24-6).
The Flyers will then take on Owens at 3 p.m.
Two of the three teams teams will advance to the national tournament in Rochester, MN on November 10-12 as the Mid-Atlantic A-B representatives. If each of the three teams win one match on Saturday, a formula will be used to determine seeding for a playoff on Sunday.
At last season's district tournament held at Butler, the Lady Flyers rallied from a two-set deficit before losing in five to the hosts. They were then eliminated by a 3-0 loss to Owens. The Ohio squad went on to win its third Division III national title in a row.
Butler and Owens, if it wins on Tuesday, have players back from last year, and according to Riggan there will be no surprises because of the access to the streaming of matches that began with Covid.
"They can look at our games and we can look at theirs," the coach said. "Both of those teams are going to have good ball control and it will be crucial that we have good ball control.
"All three of us are going to serve aggressively and that first pass is going to be crucial."
Lady Flyers Produce Consistent Efforts in Region 10 Tournament Wins Over Cobras, Cougars
The Lady Flyers began the day by sweeping a Caldwell Tech squad that extended them to five sets in both regular season matches, including the previous Saturday's two and a half hour marathon at The Hangar that included a 37-35 fourth set.
They set the tone by taking the first set 25-9. Lawrence and freshman Dajsha Fields were the leaders in kills with nine and eight respectively. Huneycutt finished with 20 assists and five service aces. The leaders in digs were Jackson with 14 and freshman Olivia Barlowe with 10.
After watching Central Carolina defeat Rockingham 3-1 in the other semi-final, the Lady Flyers dropped the opening set of the championship match 25-21 to the Cougars.
"Not that it's an excuse, but we had been sitting for awhile," Huneycutt said. "They (Cougars) had all the momentum and energy and I think they thought they could take us. We got our jitters out and now we were ready to play."
Huneycutt added three more aces, and Jackson had five as the Flyers kept the Cougars on their heels with tough serving in the championship match. Including the Caldwell Tech match, Huneycutt (8) and Jackson (7) combined for 15 aces with only three errors.
Lawrence was the leader in the hitting department against the Cougars with 16 kills. Huneycutt was credited with 26 assists and 10 digs. Jackson with 34, and Madison Brower with 12, were also in double figures in digs.
A 2021 second team All-American and now a two-time Region 10 Player of the Year, Lawrence is looking forward to the challenge of another district tournament.
"Since the beginning of the year I knew I had a lot on my shoulders," the Lumberton High School grad said. "I have to keep pushing and motivating myself with my coaches and teammates.
"We just have to take the next week of practice seriously and be prepared because Butler and Owens are good and we can play on their level too."
Riggan thinks the eight weeks of weekend tri-matches the team has participated in will help prepare for the district and national tournaments. She's impressed by the grit and determination of her players, including the support provided by the ones on the sidelines .
"They may be down, but they're not out," she said. "Today the focus was on staying locked in, all gas, no brakes. If we miss a point, get the next one.
"The depth of our team is good, our coaching depth is good and we're loud."
C. Bergmann