SOUTHAVEN, Miss. – In high school volleyball Thursday night, Aug. 21, Northpoint Christian defeated DeSoto Central in the Battle of Getwell Road. The two schools are located on the same roadway just a couple miles away on Getwell Road. The 3-1 victory for the unbeaten Lady Trojans came in set scores of 25-23, 20-25, 29-27 and 25-20.
The Lady Trojans took a first set that was tied several times and one that had no one team led by more than two points until a Val Hurdle kill gave Northpoint a 20-17 lead and an ace from Emma Claire Pierce increased the lead to 23-18. But, DeSoto Central fought back to within one point at 23-22 with an ace from Natalie Loftin. However, another kill from Hurdle pushed the score to set point and a kill from Amaya Wilson won the set 25-23.
DeSoto Central rallied to take the second set, a set that again had no team lead by more than two point lead until a kill from Brenna Sorenson forged a 19-16 advantage. A pair of ace serves from Kenzie Burkes drew the Lady Jags within set point and they won the set with a block at the net for a 25-20 victory.
Set three became a classic of sorts that finally went to Northpoint by a 29-27 score. A kill from Leah Kirkpatrick provided a 7-3 cushion for the Lady Trojans and the lead went to 15-10 when DeSoto Central failed to volley across with the required three hits. But the Lady Jags rallied to within 15-14 when Genesis Weeks served an ace. DC actually took its first lead in the set at 18-17 when scoring off a block but Johnson answered for Northpoint with a point to tie the set at 18. A kill from Hurdle gave Northpoint a 22-20 lead but a Sorenson ace tied the set at 23-23. Trying to win by two points became a challenge as the teams went back and forth until a pair of kills from Hurdle won the set for Northpoint 29-27, taking a 2-1 match lead.
The fourth set started close once again until a kill from Johnson forged a 11-7 lead for Northpoint. DeSoto Central again rallied back to tie the set at 13-13 with a Northpoint violation but the Lady Trojans scored the next four points for a 17-13 advantage. Another Hurdle kill posted a 20-16 Northpoint lead and a DeSoto Central timeout. The Lady Trojans took the fourth set 25-20 and the match in four sets.
Last year’s TSSAA Division II-A state champions are a different group from last year, but several familiar names from last year’s roster are back, with the likes of Hurdle, Johnson, Roach, Amaya Wilson, Pierce and Avery Beth Freeze. But younger players like Morris, Leah Kirkpatrick, Josey Jones, will be needed to contribute this fall.
“We have a lot of young ones on the court so there were a lot of jitters,” Northpoint coach Kim Robinson said after the victory. “We’re still in our first week, but they’ve got to get past it and they finally did.”
Robinson credited Hurdle and Johnson for their performances on the court, adding Jones and some junior varsity players also came in and provided great play in front of a raucous crowd from both schools.
“The gym was absolutely full, big student sections on both sides, the kids were really good and brought lots of energy for us,” Robinson said.
For the match, Northpoint was led by Hurdle with 16 kills, four digs and five aces. Christiana Nolan had 10 kills and three digs, Kirkpatrick made seven kills and three blocks, and Johnson offered 38 assists and 11 digs.
At the same time, DeSoto Central was led by Sorenson with 11 kills, followed by Weeks and Ellie Nehls, each with eight more. Nehls added six blocks, Weeks added 3 aces and 7 digs. Marlee Mueller had 10 digs. Remy McIntosh and Hallie Willis each had seven digs. Natalie Loftin had 20 assists and two aces.
DeSoto Central hosts Hernando on Tuesday for a 7A district match, while Northpoint travels to St. Benedict at Auburndale the same evening.
SCOREBOARD
Thursday, Aug. 21
Prep volleyball
Northpoint Christian 3, DeSoto Central 1 (25-23, 20-25, 29-27, 25-20)
Bob Bakken provides content for DeSoto County News and its social media channels. He is an award-winning broadcaster, along with being a reporter and photographer, and has done sports media relations work with junior and minor league hockey teams. Along with his reports on this website, you will find this veteran media member providing sports updates and high school football play-by-play on Rebel 95.3 FM Radio.
