Northpoint, Lewisburg, Lady Gators advance in volleyball playoffs

Photo: Northpoint Christian volleyball team with the West Region Championship trophy following a three-set victory over St. George’s Thursday night. (Bob Bakken/desotocountynews.com)

Defending state volleyball champions from DeSoto County moved a step closer to defending their titles Thursday night with important playoff victories.  

Lake Cormorant in MHSAA 6A and Lewisburg in 7A both reached their respective North Half championship match with respective straight set victories, Lake Cormorant defeated Saltillo in 6A 3-0 (25-4, 25-9, 25-18) and Lewisburg blanked Oxford in 7A 3-0 (26-24, 25-19, 25-18).

With the victories, Lake Cormorant will host Neshoba Central for the 6A North Half title on Monday, Oct. 13. At the same time, Lewisburg plays host to Madison Central for the 7A North Half title, with the winners advancing to the state championship.  

Neshoba Central reached the 6A North Half match with a 3-0 victory over Center Hill and in 7A, Madison Central defeated DeSoto Central 3-1 Thursday night.  

In the Lewisburg match, several Lady Patriots contributed. Miss Volleyball 7A Addison Cole had 16 kills, 19 assists, 9 digs, 4 aces. Mary Olivia Barnes had 9 kills, 5 blocks, 6 digs, 1 ace. Kate Denman 7 kills, Gwen Tuffield 6 kills, and Makayla Gathright added 4 kills.  Kamari Parker finished with 16 assists, 9 digs, Laney Wier 15 digs, Rylee Blanchard 9 digs, Hadleigh Woods 8 digs. “It was a good team win,” said Lewisburg coach Amy Hendrichovsky.  

At Lake Cormorant, Miss Volleyball 6A Sofia Gonzalez dominated the net for Lake Cormorant with 14 kills in the win against Saltillo Thursday night.  Ma’Kayla Hill added 8 kills and Payton Davis had seven more. 

Kelsi Agner and Emily Huerta served five aces each, Gonzalez and Huerta each had 19 digs and Kayla Gonzalez added 18 assists.  

Photo credit: Mart Scott, Oak River Media

While the Lady Gators and Lady Patriots moved closer to defending their titles in the Mississippi state championship at Mississippi College, Northpoint Christian School advanced in the Tennessee Division 2-A playoffs with a straight set (25-19, 25-21, 25-19) victory over St. George’s in the West Region championship. With the win, Northpoint earned a first-round bye and will play its next playoff match at home on Saturday, Oct. 18. If they win, the Lady Trojans will return to the state tournament in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, with hopes of defending last year’s state championship, starting Oct. 21.  

In the victory, Christiana Nolan made 15 kills and Leah Kirkpatrick added 9 kills. Kirkpatrick added a pair of service aces and Sarah Johnson also served an ace while making 28 assists.  

Northpoint coach Kim Robinson said the team is trying to get back to state by reaching several goals along the way from the first day of the season. 

“We knew that it was all going to be all left on the court, and that was the goal this evening,” Robinson said. “Even tonight, we told them in the locker room that everything stays on the court, so play whistle to whistle, make sure that we are rolling to the next point and be confident in what we’re doing.”

Northpoint took a 7-3 lead in the first set after a Sjylar Morris ace and led 15-10 after a kill from Amaya Wilson.  St. George’s rallied within 20-18 before Val Hurdle scored off a block for Northpoint and the Lady Trojans proceeded to score four of the final five points for the 25-19 victory.  

The second set was played close for both teams until Northpoint took a 19-16 advantage and Hurdle’s kill made it 20-17 Lady Trojans. A pair of kills from Nolan moved Northpoint within a set point at 24-19 and the Lady Trojans ended with a 25-21 victory and a two-set lead.  

In the third set, Northpoint started to pull away after an ace from Robbye England made the score 9-7. Another kill and an ace serve from Kirkpatrick pushed the lead to 13-8 and, when McKenzie Roach drove a volley to the floor for a kill, Northpoint had a 20-14 lead. Again, St. George’s rallied to within 22-18 after an ace from Mary Lou Luton but Northpoint again answered with a kill from Nolan, a point off a block from Kirkpatrick, and another point off a St. George’s block finished the set at 25-19 and the match at 3-0.  

During the match, the Northpoint girls were able to keep several points alive with a number of dive plays and volleys. Robinson said much of that comes from drills her team does during practice, called “Pursuit.”

“We have a time limit of 30 seconds and you have to touch every single ball that comes at you for 30 seconds, and you cannot stop,” Robinson said. “At one of the timeouts that I called I told them that defense wins volleyball games and so, for the next 15 points, we have to commit to not letting the ball hit the floor.”

All-region selections announced at the end of the match were Hurdle, Kirkpatrick, Nolan and Johnson. Second-team selections were Roach and Morris.  

St. George’s, Jackson Christian, and Evangelical Christian have also advanced to the Division 2-A state playoffs.

Prep volleyball

MHSAA 7A Playoffs- second round

Lewisburg 3, Oxford 0 (26-24, 25-19, 25-18)

Madison Central 3, DeSoto Central 1 (25-21, 16-25, 25-20, 25-16)

MHSAA 6A Playoffs – second round

Lake Cormorant 3, Saltillo 0 (25-4, 25-9, 25-18)

Neshoba Central 3, Center Hill 0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-22)

TSSAA Division 2-A West Region finals -at Fayette Academy

Northpoint Christian 3, St. George’s 0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-19)