Rebels hang on, return to 1A North finals
Oct. 12—BELDEN — Hickory Flat is two years removed from a volleyball state championship, and now it's two wins away from another.
The Rebels survived a spirited Tupelo Christian rally to win Thursday's Class 1A third-round playoff match, 3-2 (25-22, 25-21, 26-28, 20-25, 15-13). Hickory Flat is making its fourth straight trip to the North finals, where it will face Pine Grove on Monday.
"Some of these girls, No. 1, have won a state title," Hickory Flat coach Kody Joyner said. "They've got a bunch of big games under their belt, so it's not like they're newbies to the sport. That is a huge difference in closing out games."
Closing out TCPS (21-4) proved quite difficult. The Eagles won an epic back-and-forth third set, and they carried that momentum into the fourth.
Grace Hinton, Lily Rose Logan and L.J. Speed provided the big sparks for TCPS. Logan finished with 14 kills, Speed had 13 and Hinton notched 11.
"I think they were a little nervous coming out, because all they've heard all season is Hickory Flat, Hickory Flat, Hickory Flat," TCPS coach Eric Laskowski said. "We game-planned well. They just out-fought us tonight."
After leaning on towering middle hitter Camri Westmoreland early, Hickory Flat (18-15) got a boost from senior Jolee Young in the fifth set. This year's 1A Miss Volleyball started the set with a kill and had a couple of aces to give the Rebels a 12-11 lead.
It was tied 13-13 when Hickory Flat benefited from a couple of TCPS hitting errors to seal the match.
Westmoreland finished with 13 kills, while Young had eight. Setter Sarah Jo Skelton was a steady presence all night and had 23 assists.
"We've got good teammates that bring us up," Skelton said. "We've got good bench players that bring us up. Our coach brings us up. That's really what it is — good energy and good positivity."
