Smiths happy with state of Orangeburg Prep volleyball, football
Volleyball 18-8 under Katherine Smith, football 5-3 under Brooks Smith
Orangeburg – The Orangeburg Preparatory School volleyball team lost three key performers to graduation from last year’s team that went 20-4 and came within a match of playing for the SCISA AAA state title. With the Indians off to an 18-8 overall start and a 4-0 start in Region 1, second-year head coach Katherine Smith likes how the team is coming along.
“The OP varsity volleyball team is improving week by week, and we’re hitting the level of play I’m excited to see as we head toward the state tournament,” Smith said. “As the season progresses, the team is showing increased determination, pursuing balls they may not have gone after earlier in the season. We’ve become a scrappy squad!”
The Indians return three starters in junior Mary Legare Delaney and seniors Hannah Lambrecht and Kate Holstein. The newcomers to the lineup are seniors Jayme Culler and Emma Grace Burleson and junior Morgan Gue.
Also on the roster are senior Paige Bonnette, senior Ansley Newsome, senior Morgan Newsome, junior Allie Brynn Furtick and freshman Blakely Garrick.
Delaney was leading OP in kills with 211, service aces with 42, digs with 160 and solo blocked shots 62 to go with 33 service aces thr9ugh the first 21 matches. Lambrecht had 88 kills, 25 aces and 114 digs, while Holstein had 101 kills and 26 blocks.
Burleson was leading the way in aces with 42 and had 14 blocks. Culmer was the assists leader with 322 and had 75 digs. Furtick had 85 assists.
Orangeburg Prep has won all four of its region matches by 3-0 scores, beating Clarendon Hall twice and Calhoun Academy and Thomas Sumter Academy once each.
The state tournament is set for October 24-25 in Myrtle Beach.
ORANGEBURG PREP FOOTBALL 5-3
The Orangeburg Prep football team has won five of its first eight games under first-year head coach Brooks Smith. Though there have been some bumps and dips along the way, Smith is happy with what the Indians have done to date.
“I feel good about where we are,” said Smith, who was the offensive coordinator last season under former head coach Don Shelley. “The kids have bought into how we want the program to operate from an accountability standpoint and the effort has been great.”
Orangeburg Prep is 3-1 in its non-region contests and 2-2 in SCISA Region 2-AA. It owns a 41-27 victory over defending Class A state champion Thomas Heyward Academy, a 27-8 triumph over Andrew Jackson Academy and a 28-15 victory over Northside Christian Academy for its non-region wins. The loss came to defending AAA state runner-up Wilson Hall by a 42-14 count.
In region play, the Indians own a 41-0 victory over Clarendon Hall and a 40-16 triumph over Spartanburg Christian Academy. The losses came against Greenwood Christian School by a 34-21 count and a 51-12 loss to Calhoun Academy.
Despite the unevenness of the games, Smith said his team is performing better than he anticipated coming into the season.
“I would say that we are exceeding expectations from the standpoint of where we are as a program overall,” Smith said. “We had to replace a lot of key contributors from last season and we changed our philosophy on defense. We have had a lot of younger guys step up and that is going to be huge for us moving forward this season and beyond. We have to execute better to get the number in the win column higher, but I trust that our guys will continue to work hard and improve.”
The Indians are off this week before playing a non-region road contest against Patrick Henry Academy on October 24. The regular-season finale will be at home against Thomas Sumter in a region contest on October 31.
One of those young players who’s had to step forward is sophomore quarterback Cholly Williams. He has completed 68 of 119 passes for 1,192 yards and 17 touchdowns against just three interceptions through the first six games. Williams had rushed for 217 yards and four touchdowns on 41 carries.
Williams has the luxury of having the top wide receiver in SCISA in 6-foot-5-iinch Tilden “T” Riley as a target. A Vanderbilt commitment, Riley has 33 receptions for 684 yards and 12 touchdowns. Riley is also a threat running the ball with 22 carries for 247 yards and two touchdowns.
Sophomore Council Burroughs has 13 catches for 219 yards and three touchdowns, while junior Maxx Judy had 14 catches for 187 yards and two touchdown2.
Junior J’syri Parker is the leading rusher. He has 353 yards and five touchdowns on 74 carries.
Riley is also a force on defense in the secondary. He has 51 tackles, four tackles for a loss and two interceptions along with two pass breakups.
Sophomore defensive lineman Mac Strickland leads in both tackles and TFLs with 111 and 10, respectively, to go with one quarterback sack and one fumble recovery. Junior Blake Inabinet has 78 tackles, five of them being for a loss, and a fumble recovery. Junior Chris Jackson has nine TFLs to go with 55 tackles and a sack.
Parker, an outside linebacker, has 55 tackles and seven tackles for a loss to go with a team high three sacks. Defensive back Judy has two interceptions and 23 tackles.
Sophomore linebacker Bryson Smoak has 28 tackles, a tackle for a loss, a fumble recovery and a sack.
Smith hopes the Indians will be able to get healthy coming down the homestretch of the season. He pointed out that for the Homecoming game against SCA, only three of the eight seniors were able to dress due to injury.
