Lady Flyers Prevail in Final Tuneup for Friday's Season Opener at The Hangar
The Sandhills Community College volleyball team prepped for Friday's regular-season opening doubleheader against Cleveland Community College by defeating the St. Andrews Knights 4-1 in a scrimmage on Wednesday afternoon at The Hangar.
The Lady Flyers will entertain the NJCAA Division II Yetis from Shelby in matches at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Freshman outside hitter Caroline Bradford and sophomore outside hitter Dajsha Fields, led the Lady Flyers against the team from Laurinburg with eight kills each. Freshman middle hitter Cassidy Jewett added six kills to go along with a team-leading four blocks.
Sydney Garner, a freshman, contributed 23 assists and freshman libero Lainey Mullins was credited with a team-high 17 digs.
"The main goal of these scrimmages is to build chemistry and fix mistakes before the start of the regular season," Lady Flyers Coach Alicia Riggan said afterward. "This is the largest team we've ever had, so we're really just trying to figure out what are the best options to put out there. I feel like the girls are really starting to connect with one another."
One of the standouts through the two scrimmages has been Jewett. She is one of two freshmen this year from Southside Christian School, along with libero/defensive specialist Nicole Lambert. Stepping into the role shared by two time All-American Keke Lawrence and All Region 10 teammate Mackenzie Swett, Jewett knows she has big shoes to fill, and appears ready to help do just that.
"I love Keke, we miss her so much," Jewett said of a player she met during open gyms. "Being able to fill those shoes is a huge privilege and honor. I love the camaraderie of the team, we have a really good pulse; whenever we get going, we get going."
Riggan alluded to both blocking and defense as areas that stood out as needing some improvement.
The returnees from last season's Region 10 regular season and conference tournament championship squad that finished in ninth place at the national tournament also include Alyssa Maragelis, Ny'asia McKinnon, Alexis Hinson and Lannah Huneycutt. Another sophomore, Emma Brown, played beach volleyball for the Lady Flyers last spring.
The freshmen members also include Aydan Bullard (Lumberton), Ellie Everhart (Union Pines), Mya Goodyear (Randleman), Zoey Hall (North Mecklenberg), Izzy Hoskins (Marlboro Academy), Hailey Kennedy (North Moore) and Jenna Luquer (Scotland).
A challenging first two days of the regular season includes another double-header on Saturday at Davidson-Davie CC in Thomasville. The Lady Flyers will meet The Storm at 11 a.m. followed by a match against USC Sumter at 1 p.m.
T. Ratcliff