Having a lot of Faith
- Updated: August 27, 2015
[corner-ad id=1]Lions come from behind in final two games to sweep Wellborn; Oxford, Pleasant Valley also sweep opening-night foes
By East Alabama Sports Today
It takes a little more than falling behind apparently to rattle this year’s Faith Christian volleyball team.
The Lions trailed in each of the final two games of their season-opener against Wellborn Thursday night, but pulled it together to win each one and sweep the Panthers in three games 25-20, 25-20, 25-19.
Faith fell behind 16-8 in Game 2, then Madison Stephens served 11 straight points to give the Lions the lead and Abby Kazanjian served the last five in a row to close out the game. The Lions were down 19-16 in Game 3 when Kazanjian served seven straight points to put her team in front.
“This team is fun to watch play,” Faith coach Bradley Dawson said. “There’s always a chance in their mind they can win. As long as there’s a ball left to play, they think they have a chance to win.
“Last year’s team might have folded up in those situations, but we’ve matured over the summer a lot.”
Kazanjian had nine aces, four digs and 17 assists. Stephens had seven aces and 17 assists. Cornelia Simpson had 13 kills and eight blocks.
Oxford 2, Gadsden City 0
Oxford 2, Southside 0
GADSDEN – The Yellow Jackets’ season-opening sweep was defined by the way they played the first set of each match.
The Yellow Jackets opened their season by beating Gadsden City (25-8, 25-15) and Southside (25-19, 25-16), and set the tone for it in distinctly different ways.
They jumped out to an 18-3 lead in the Gadsden City match and cruised to that win, but they had to score the final seven points against Southside to avoid a third set.
The newest players in Oxford’s lineup made some of the biggest impacts.
New setter Chloe Stone had 16 assists against Gadsden City and 22 against Southside. New libero Kerrigan Timmons had nine digs against Southside.
Veteran Breanna Nolan had two strong matches, recording five kills, seven digs and two assists against Gadsden City and six kills, 11 digs and an ace against Southside. Laura Davenport had six kills, two aces and three digs against Gadsden City, while Nyia Archie had eight kills and three aces against Southside.
Pleasant Valley 3, Spring Garden 0
JACKSONVILLE – Bolstered by a large opening-night crowd, the Raiders defeated Spring Garden 25-10, 25-20, 25-11.
Cammy Cochran had a big night with 14 kills, six aces and six digs, while Anna Bryant recorded 22 assists, six digs and three aces.
Blakley Malsey had four kills, five digs and a block; Savannah Williams had three aces and five digs; Alisa St. John had four kills; Taylor Williams had 10 digs and Madison Bentley had nine digs.
“I am proud of the how hard my girls have been working,” PV coach Dana Bryant said. “I would like to thank all the parents, fans, football players and coaches for coming out to support us. It made for a great atmosphere for our opening night.”
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