HoCo sweeps tournament, wins county championship

The Houston County volleyball tournament took place Wednesday evening in Houston County High School’s new gym. Houston County High was the host school as they captured the trophy in 2021. Many of the matches were very close, and all the county teams battled each other to the end.

In the first match, Perry faced off against Warner Robins and that went the distance as Perry took control of the Demonettes in the third set. The Demonettes had the momentum after the first set winning 25-19 — they started off strong in the second set, but unfortunately, the Panthers took over a set by a score of 25-16. The Lady Panthers then took the momentum in the third set capturing the match by a score of 15-7. The statistic leaders for the Demonettes were Zaiah Dantes with seven kills and Kynnadi Howard with five kills. Clair Whitson (#18) had 13 assists and three kills. On the defensive side, the leaders were Cali Rylander and Katelyn Howard with 5 digs each. Although the Demonettes lost, it was a good warmup match to their 5A Regional match at Locust Grove that will take place on Thursday. Coach Rogers stated that if the team continues to play with confidence, they should be able to win the 5A region.

The first of two semi-final matches were the Veterans Warhawks versus the Northside Eagles. The match was intense from the first set all the way to the end of the third set. The Eagles captured the first set in a narrow victory. The second set was close to a replay of the first set; however, the Warhawks were able to capture this set and tie the match. The third and final set was contested in the beginning, but the Warhawks were able to capture the victory and a place in the county finals. The Eagles commented after the game that they played well the first two sets but in the third set they were hampered with too many hitting and service errors, which cost them the match. The Warhawk statistics leaders tonight in aces were Nyah (11), Taylor and Mia each with three; Kills were led by Serenity (14), Nyah (10), Taylor (6); Blocks Serenity (7) and Nyah (4), Assists was Abigail (21) and Grace (15); and Digs were Mia (25) and Taylor (12).

This evening was not just about whom would win the county tournament but the inaugural county volleyball matches to be held at the new gymnasium at Houston County High. This was not the only highlight but chance for the Lady Bears to honor their seven seniors (six players and trainer) for the season. After the Senior Night presentation and surprise presentation to Coach Huelsman by the seniors, the Bears were now ready to take on the Perry Panthers in the semi-finals.

The Bears were successful against Perry winning the match in two sets. Perry started out on fire in the first set and lead throughout the match until the end of the match. The statistics leaders in the first match for HOCO were Lauren Desilets with seven kills and two digs, De’Nyla Harlan had 10 digs and one kill, Brooke Langevin had three kills, and Harlee Blasche had two kills. Houston County’s defense was led by Ava Mason who had five digs and seven assists on the night. Harley Mitchell had six assists. The Panthers fell short in the match, and they will host the 4A Regional in Perry starting on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 9 a.m.

The final match was set between two teams who are familiar with each other as Veterans and Houston County faced off for the trophy. Like many of their previous matches, the battle was on. Both of the sets were close with many lead changes. Houston County took the first set and had the momentum as they ended up winning a close second set to win the match and the county trophy. The leaders in this match were Lauren Desilets with five kills and four digs; De’Nyla Harlan had five digs, three kills and three service aces; Jessa Dickerson with five digs, Harley Mitchell and Ava Mason with eight and seven assists respectively; Jessa Dickerson had five digs; Alissa Rhodes added two blocks and a kill. The Veterans’ statistics leaders were Nyah Fox with 11 aces, 10 kills, four digs and two blocks. Abigail Snyder had 21 assists and six digs, Haylee Mitchell had seven digs, Mia Verger finished with 25 digs and 3 aces, and Serenity Jones had 14 kills and 7 blocks.

Region 1-6A this year will be hosted by Houston County on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 10 a.m.

Come support all of the teams in their region tournaments.

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