It seems like a broken record to point out the Volley Hounds achieving yet another first as a program. But simply stated, Jones County just keeps on breaking new ground on the volleyball court.
The latest was last Tuesday at the JCHS gymnasium, when the Lady Greyhounds swept a region tri-match for the first time in program history, beating both Eagles Landing and Warner Robins to improve to 24-5 overall with sweeps of Northeast and Lamar County last Thursday.
“It feels really good. We talked (before Tuesday) about the gravity of what the region wins truly mean, especially with the buildup of how the girls have been playing together,” Lady Greyhounds head coach Leah Bodnarchuk said. “They understood it and know we have to keep putting in the work.”
Both region matches saw Jones County shift into high gear once it got rolling. In the first game against Eagles Landing, JCHS rallied from being down 20-8 to tie things up at 20-20. Even then, the Lady Gryehounds had to keep fighting, trailing 22-21 before a key return at the net made it 23-22 before a pair of Isabella Bodnarchuk serves and a block at the net by Jayda Round closed out the 25-22 win.
After grabbing a close win, the Volley Hounds led 7-2 by way of service points by Becca Durrett. That effort kept on going steadfastly, as a 12-5 lead turned into a 12-0 run, taking things to match point with the gamewinner by Zakeena Sturgeon, putting the wrap on a pair of wins of which success was traced back to film study.
“We watched film on both teams and sat down and picked apart their defense and offense, so they knew exactly who they needed to hit to — and hit through,” Bodnarchuk said.
The Lady Hounds overcame another slow start when it came to Warner Robins, leading 18-12 after starting out behind 8-4 in the first game. Then JCHS took over, spurred on by a block from Durrett, leading to a game-winning return by Olivia Edmonson to win 25-19, ahead of a 25-8 win in the second game for the second region sweep of the day.
