Wilson Hall volleyball team off to another strong start
Lady Barons own 18-7 record as state tournament draws near
Sumter – It’s another season and another strong start for the Wilson Hall volleyball team.
The Lady Barons owned a 18-7 record through their first 21 matches and started 3-2 in SCISA Region 3-AAAA.
“I think we’re doing a good job,” said head coach Rip Ripley. “We had five seniors who all contributed (on a 27-8 team) that graduated. We’ve got a young group coming back, and they’ve all stepped into bigger roles. Addie Griffin is in a similar role from last season. She is a leader for us on and off the court.”
Griffin, a defensive specialist, is the only senior on the roster. She had 14 service aces and 57 digs.
The top returning player is just a freshman in McKinley Bath. As an eighth-grader, she led Wilson Hall in kills and is easily doing the same this year. She had 150 kills in 37 sets.
Bath, an outside hitter, was also leading in aces with 40 and was second in digs with 124 and second in serves received with 147.
“McKinley is already an outstanding player,” Ripley said. “We just look for her to continue to get better. She’s really talented, really special.”
Junior Savannah Wells is the libero. She was leading in serves received with 222 and digs with 130.
Junior setter Natalie Hawkey was leading the team in assists with 273 to go with 77 digs, 20 aces and 11 kills. Junior middle hitter Beaty Zeigler was the blocked shots leader with 20 and was tied with junior outside hitter Mary Todd Champion for second in kills with 57. Champion had 12 digs and 10 aces.
Sophomore rightside hitter Kira Stelle had 21 aces, 34 kills, five blocks and 11 digs. Sophomore defensive special Mary Paisley Geddings had 43 digs, five aces and 12 kills, sophomore rightside hitter Ellis Coker had 21 kills and three blocks, and sophomore defensive specialist Bailey Flemming had 10 digs and four aces.
Other members of the team are junior Sofia Dall’Erta and freshman Isabella.
If the Lady Barons continue to show the steady progress they have to date, Ripley believes only good things await at the end of the season.
“They’ve all stepped up and done a good job,” Ripley said. “I think we just need to keep growing and keep building, have all these sophomores amd juniors continue to grow and develop. We just need to continue to develop roles and play with and have confidence both on and off the court.”
