By Michael Lindsay
The Jackson County Lady Blue Devil volleyball team picked up a non-district victory Thursday afternoon as they defeated Livingston Academy during an in-school match, 3-1.
“We were much better today than when we started the week out,” said Jackson County head coach Lucas Martin. “We let a few points run up on us, but for the most part we played a good volleyball match. It was totally a team effort; everybody came through when we needed them to and they did their job.”
Jackson County won the first two sets 25-11 and 27-25 before Livingston fought back to win the third set, 25-18. The Lady Devils responded and closed the match out in the fourth set, 25-23, to win the match 3 sets to 1.
“It took a little bit of luck,” said Martin. “It was good timing and making the plays when we had to, and we didn’t give up.”
An ace from Jackson County’s Macee Conner late in the first set gave the Lady Devils an 18-9 lead before they pushed ahead to win the set 25-11.
An ace from Bell Beaty gave Jackson County an 11-6 lead midway through the second period before Livingston responded with an 8-0 run in the set to take a 14-11 lead. Jackson County clawed back to take a 23-21 lead in the second set via back-to-back aces from Beaty. After trading points, the Lady Devils were able to pull away with a 27-25 set victory thanks to back-to-back errors from the Lady Wildcats.
With a 2-0 lead in hand, Jackson County opened the third set on a 7-0 run before Livingston again closed the gap with a 15-4 run to take a 4-point lead over the Lady Devils. Livingston pushed ahead to a 23-16 lead via an ace from Mallie Carwile before winning the third set, 25-18.
Jackson County opened the fourth set with an 8-4 lead via an ace from Bella Chaffin. The Lady Wildcats pulled within one point at 9-8 via a Cora Copeland kill before the Lady Devils pushed back ahead by 4 points (12-8) on back-to-back aces from Jules Looper.
The Lady Devils held a 19-11 lead in the fourth set before Livingston Academy went on an 11-4 run to cut their deficit to 23-22. Jackson County answered with a kill from Eva Wilson to take a 24-22 lead. The teams traded errors on the ensuing two serves to clinch a 25-23 victory for the Lady Devils in the fourth set.
Jackson County is set to take the court again in the Lynn Cannon Memorial Classic at White County High School on Saturday while Livingston Academy is scheduled to compete in Knoxville on Friday.
