By Michael Lindsay
The 2024 high school volleyball season kicked off Monday afternoon, and the White County Warriors opened their season in the win column as they won at Stone Memorial, 3-1.
The Warriorettes took the first two sets 26-24 and 25-14 before Stone Memorial rallied to win the third set, 25-11. White County closed out the victory with a 25-20 win in the fourth to pick up the victory.
“They didn’t give up and finished strong,” said White County head coach Logan Hicks. “I have a very mature group and they know how to get through bad times. They have great chemistry and have each other’s back.”
Stone Memorial opened the first set with an 8-4 lead via a point from Lauren Clark. White County battled back to tie the contest at 12-12. After trading points late in the first set, White County pulled ahead to a 22-18 lead via a block by Josie Williams. Stone Memorial tied the first set at 24 via an ace by Lucy Grothe before the Warriorettes capitalized on back-to-back errors to win 26-24.
White County took control in the second set as they jumped out to a 9-5 lead before winning by a 25-14 margin to go up 2 sets to 0. Stone Memorial rallied in the third set as they opened with an 8-0 run and held a 12-2 lead. White County cut their deficit to 16-8, but the Lady Panthers pulled away to win the third set by a 25-11 margin.
The fourth set saw Stone Memorial take a a 13-12 lead via a Grothe kill before the Warriorettes answered with back-to-back points including a Gracie Clark kill to take a 14-13 lead. An ace from White County’s Lily Parker gave the Warriorettes an 18-15 lead before the Lady Panthers answered with back-to-back points to cut their deficit to 18-17.
White County held off Stone Memorial from there as they grew their lead to 5 points late in the set and won by a 25-20 final score.
Both teams open district play on Tuesday as White County hosts Stewarts Creek in District 7-3A play while Stone Memorial travels to Upperman in District 7-2A action.
“We have Stewarts Creek tomorrow at home in our opening district match,” said Hicks. “If we play like we did during our hiccups, a team like Stewarts Creek will take advantage. If we can play like we did in the second and fourth sets, we’ll be fine.”
