by Amy Davis

COURTLAND
The Lady Indians added two more wins to their record last week. We defeated Brunswick on Oct. 24 in straight sets and Surry on Oct. 26 in straight sets. JV defeated Brunswick (25-7 & 25-8) and varsity defeated Brunswick (25-10, 25-5 25-9.)

Standouts for the night included: JV players Shelby Shaffer had 8 aces; Mallory Francis had 5 kills; and Kinna Magette had 12 assists. For varsity, Ashlyn Edwards had 5 aces and 14 assists; Emma Drake had 11 kills; Hilary Newlon had 5 aces; and Hannah Bradshaw had 8 aces and 3 kills.

The Lady Indians defeated Surry JV (25-6 & 25-12) and barsity (25-4, 25-3, & 25-13). JV had the following standouts: Mallory Francis 6 aces and 6 kills; Ayanna Bell had 1 ace and 2 kills; Kinna Magette had 2 aces and 5 assists; and Alexis Clapp had 1 ace and 1 kill. Varsity had the following: senior standouts Ashlyn Edwards had 2 assists and 19 assists; Emma Drake had 5 aces and 12 kills; Madison Wright had 1 ace and 8 kills; and Hilary Newlon had 3 aces and 4 kills.

Friday was Senior Night where we honored four outstanding young ladies: Emma Drake, Ashlyn Edwards, Hilary Newlon and Madison Wright.

When asked about the season the four seniors responded with the following comments.

Hilary Newlon said, “This has honestly been the best season thus far. We have all grown so close together and have not only become great friends, but we have become a family.”

Ashlyn Edwards said, “I cannot be more happy to have competed my senior year with such great friends and teammates.”

Madison Wright said, “The bond we have among our team is irreplaceable. We are all so close and it helps us to work hard and play as a team. I hope that we are able to continue the season over the next few weeks.”

Emma Drake said, “As our last district games were ahead of us, we knew we wanted to finish strong. This year we wanted to strive and finish with greatness. And that’s exactly what we did this year. When playing Brunswick and Surry for our last games we were able to see all that we accomplished. I couldn’t be more proud of the bond we have created and hope to continue that bond as we take on regionals.”

Saturday competition results

The regular season champions and top ranked Southampton Indians defeated the Windsor Dukes in straight sets in the first round of the Tri-Rivers District Tournament on Oct. 28. The set scores were 25-9, 25-17 and 25-15.

Some standouts from Southampton included: Ashlyn Edwards had 2 kills, 5 aces and 14 assists; Hannah Bradshaw had 1 ace and 5 kills; Jamey Bunn had 3 aces, 2 kills, and 11 assists; Jacey Bunn had 6 digs; and Emma Drake had 4 blocks, 10 digs, and 18 kills.

Following this match, the number 3 seed Franklin Broncos took on the number 2 seed Park View Dragons. The Dragons defeated the Broncos in straight sets. The championship match followed with a rematch of the top seeded Southampton Indians and the 2nd Seeded Park View Dragons.

The Lady Indians defeated the Lady Dragons 3 sets to 1 in an exciting battle for Tri-Rivers Tournament Champions. The set scores were 25-22, 14-25, 25-20 and 25-22. Standouts from the Lady Indians included: Ashlyn Edwards with 6 kills and 19 assists; Madison Wright had 5 kills and 21 digs; Jacey Bunn had 15 digs; Jamey Bunn had 6 kills and 25 assists; Hannah Bradshaw had 1 ace, 4 blocks, and 7 kills; and Emma Drake had 3 aces, 11 digs, and 33 kills. Emma had a season high with 33 kills in Saturday’s match.

The All district team was also announced at the tournament.

The following young ladies received honorable mention: from Franklin, Katelynn Woolfolk, Kayla Eley, and Destiny Graydon; from Windsor, E.J. Bankson, Kate Jackson and Basalisa Andujar; from Surry, Braila Pierce, Kiana Grissett, Kharris Howell and Toni Newby; from Southampton, Hilary Newlon; from Greensville, Caroline Taylor; from Brunswick, Taijah Bradley, Desmyn Owens and Aniya Seward; from Sussex, Pres’Cious Thomas, Rebekah Shabazz, Mika Bates and Martika Hill; and from Appomattox Regional Governor’s School, Siani Nero and Chloe Gayle. 

The following young ladies received second team honors: from Southampton, juniors Jacey Bunn, Hannah Bradshaw, Jamey Bunn and Madeline Burgess; from Greensville, seniors Tanyla Evans and Samantha Richard; from Park View, seniors Hannah Bailey, Lexy Surseth, and junior Grayson Hudson.

The following young ladies received first team honors: from Southampton, senior sAshlyn Edwards, Emma Drake and Madison Wright; from Park View, seniors Katherine Mosier, Ashley Roberts and freshman Courtlyn Hawkins; from Franklin, freshman Kayla Felts; from Surry, Sydni Presson; and from Windsor, Maria Tumminello.

The Tri-Rivers District Player of the Year was Southampton senior Emma Drake, and the coach of the year was Amy Davis from Southampton.

The Lady Indians begin regional play tonight, Nov. 1, at 6 o’clock, in Southampton High School. They are ranked first in region 3A and have a bye for first round play. We will face the winner of I.C. Norcom and Lakeland  high schools. Regional semi-finals will be on Thursday, Nov. 2, hosted by the higher seed. Regional finals will be on Tuesday, Nov. 7, and both the winner and runner up will move on to the 3A state tournament. The quarterfinals of the state will be on Saturday, Nov. 11.