Jefferson Davis volleyball wants to play best in October
By Dennis Brunson
hssr.com Associate Editor
Blackville – The Jefferson Davis Academy volleyball program won its first ever region title last season, claiming the SCISA Region 1-Class A crown with a 5-1 record.
The Lady Raiders appeared to be well on their way to a second consecutive region title, albeit this year in Region 2-Class A. They were off to a 6-0 start in region action as part of an 11-3 overall record.
Jefferson Davis head coach Bart Owens likes his team’s performance to date, but he is looking for it to get better and better.
“Our team is playing well, but we need more improvement before October,” Owens said. “We are trying to play our best volleyball in October to be our best at the state tournament.”
The Lady Raiders still had several key games remaining prior to the Class A state tournament to be played on October 18-19 in Myrtle Beach.
Jefferson Davis returned four starters from last season, and each of them was an outstanding player. All of them were All-Region performers led by Region Player of the Year Sydney Owens. The others are Rynn Fickling, Carrie Lynn Loadholt and Mattie Morris.
Owens, a senior rightside hitter and setter who was also selected to the SCISA All-State team, averaged 17 assists, two kills, three service aces and two blocks per match for the Lady Raiders, who finished the season with a 13-6 overall record.
Junior outside hitter Fickling and sophomore middle hitter Morris were strong around the net. Fickling averaged six kills, one block and four aces, while Morris averaged eight kills, two blocks and two aces. Loadholt, a senior libero, averaged six digs, three aces and three assists.
Other members of the starting lineup are senior middle hitter Elie Fogle, sophomore rightside/middle hitter Abby Deerman and freshman libero/defensive specialist Riley Williams.
The rest of the roster is made up of senior outside hitter Kaylee Jackson, sophomore setter/rightside hitter Mason Roberts, freshman setter/rightside hitter Ava Gozman and freshman rightside/middle hitter Rileigh York.
Despite winning the region title last season, Jefferson Davis went a disappointing 0-2 in the state tournament as it was hampered by injuries. Coach Owens believes the Lady Raiders will make some inroads at the state tournament in a couple of weeks.
“I think this group has their heads right to be very good late in the season,” he said.
JDA FOOTBALL READIES FOR REGION RUN
The Jefferson Davis football team has played four of the five other teams in Region 2 of SCISA’s 8-man division, but it was only 1-0 in region contests. How’s that, you ask? Because the Raiders are playing all of their region foes, with the exception of Cathedral Academy, twice.
Jefferson Davis head coach Anthony Reitenour doesn’t particularly enjoy having to face teams twice, especially when not all of the games count in the standings.
“We’d rather be playing some other teams, especially since our region is down a little bit this year,” said Reitenour, who guided the Raiders to the state title last year. “SCISA wants us to do it like this, so that’s what we’re doing. We’ve already beaten these teams, but now we’ve got to beat them when it matters.”
Jefferson Davis is 6-1 on the season. It lost to Providence Athletic Club 32-14 to start the season before beating region foe Cross Schools – in a non-region matchup – 54-0. It then beat Georgia School for Innovation and Classics 28-26 in another out-of-region tilt.
That was followed a 66-0 win over Conway Christian, a 54-0 triumph over The King’s Academy and a 36-18 win over Holly Hill Academy, the team it beat for the state title last year, in region non-region games.
“That was really a nice win for us,” said Reitenour, whose team snapped HHA’s 3-year reign as state champion. “We held them to (166) yards of total offense. Some of the scores they had were because of bad mistakes by us, not so much their execution. I felt like that was a shutdown night for us.”
Senior quarterback Colson Loadholt led the offense rushing for 198 yards and four touchdowns on 12 carries while throwing a touchdown pass as well.
The Raiders followed that with a 70-12 triumph over Cross Schools, making it 1-0 in region play.
Along with Loadholt, Jefferson Davis has two other seniors in running backs Nasir Void and James Grubbs chewing up yards on the ground – when they’re able to be on the field.
Loadholt had 538 yards and 11 touchdowns on 49 carries through the Holly Hill game. Void had 502 yards and seven scoreds on 57 carries, and Grubbs had 358 yards and four touchdowns 64 carries.
“Colson’s kind of the guy right now at quarterback,” Reitenour said. “Our running game is really strong with 1A and 1B in Nas and James. We’re trying to get them a few more carries, but we try to be respectful of teams when we’re winning big. But we need them playing some now, so they’ll be in shape and not get gassed when we get to the playoffs.”
The Raiders’ offensive line consists of senior center/guard Landon Williams and guards Cole Creech and Fischer Robinson seeing time at the guard slots.
The Raiders were scheduled to play undefeated Cathedral on October 4, which was ranked second in the High School Sports Report SCISA 8-man poll. JDA was ranked third while Richard Winn Academy was ranked No. 1.
Reitenour is not complaining though.
“That is some of the best motivation our team has ever gotten,” he said. “I was kind of worried about us getting complacent. We’ve been kind of getting that underdog treatment, so it has our attention. We’re going to get our respect on the football field. It has definitely fueled our guys a little bit more.”
