After dropping a trio of tournament matches the Saturday before, the Volley Hounds had a bounce back on their minds in FPD’s tourney Saturday.
And despite the task being made tougher due to injuries and illnesses, Jones County persevered, taking wins against Covenant Academy and FPD. JCHS was without one key player, Isabella Bodnarchuk, with another, Lyndsie Hanner, battling through illness on Saturday.
“We have several injuries and one sick, so we’re kind of a beat-up group right now. We had a lot of kids step up for us,” Lady Greyhounds head coach Kim Hanner said. “It took a little bit of adjustments, and some are playing in spots that they have not played. So, overall, for them to be able to do that, that’s good.”
JCHS, which took on Warner Robins this past Tuesday, opens region play next Tuesday on the road against Union Grove and Ola.
The Lady Hounds began Saturday’s match against Covenant with a 19-8 win before dropping the second one 25-15, forcing a decisive third game.
Jones County had little time to reflect on the win as matchup with the tournament host Vikings followed. JCHS got a strong start, leading 10-6 and maintaining the advantage, up 12-9 and then 19-15 before a bump by Grace Faircloth and kill by Arleigh Henderson got the Lady Hounds within a point of a win before the 25-19 victory.
After another game-two loss, this time 25-14, Jones County repeated history, winning the third game to take another match win.
That came after trailing 4-0 against FPD prior to equalizing the score at 6-6. That was before Malea Rogers served JCHS to an 8-6 lead. The Volley Hounds responded to trailing 10-9 by going up 12-10 on thanks to service points by Emily Parks and a Jayda Round Kill for a 13-10 lead, paving the way to a 15-10 win.
