Bob Jones stays hot, sweeps Sparkman in volleyball
Bob Jones’ Erin Shockey (5) sets for Isabelle Barnes (9)
(RECORD PHOTO/LINDSAY VAUGHT)
HARVEST- The Bob Jones volleyball team is sitting atop Class 6A, Area 15 after a 3-0 match win over Sparkman on Thursday night. The scores were 25-22, 25-14 and 30-28.
The third ranked Patriots needed everything they could muster to claim the victory.
A back and forth third and final game was decided in overtime as Bob Jones staved off three game points. With Emily Hatcher serving, the winning two points came from a slam by Isabelle Barnes and a kill by Alexis Howell.
Howell also had a kill to end game two. Sparkman went down 10-1 in game two but closed to 20-11 when their own middle hitter, Sierra Davis, started finding the mark with spikes.
In the third game, Sparkman had their biggest lead at 21-18 and had three chances to win the game after the teams tied at 25.
Bob Jones used several front line rotations based on who was serving well and who had the hot hand. Leading the attack is setter Erin Shockey who rarely leaves the court.
Shockey had a surprise for the Senators and scored key points in games two and three with drop shots just clearing the net. On most points she provided nice high sets for hitters Jeneva Salter, Howell, and Barnes.
Barnes, a 5-foot-11 sophomore, has broken into the starting rotation as a middle hitter in her first year on varsity. She is the same height as one of the team leaders in kills, Jeneva Salter, giving the Patriots an imposing front line.
Emily Hatcher had the pressure of serving out the match after the Patriots had fought back from behind to even the score in game three.
“All I was thinking was I got to get this serve over,” said Hatcher, a junior now in her second varsity season. “Sparkman played with everything they had but we pulled through.”
“Being her first year, she’s amazing,” Hatcher said of Barnes. “She had hits that I have never seen before. I’m just proud of her and proud to be playing with her. She is taller than me and her arms are so long, she’s great. And she always gives her all.”
Emily Hatcher
The Patriots are playing with confidence and appear to have the pieces in place to meet their high expectations. It makes for a deep and balanced team, likely the best team in the four years April Marsh has been head coach.
Marsh said the win was a team victory and puts the Patriots within reach of finishing first in Area 15 and hosting the area tournament.
“It was a good game, both teams played well. Our kids did a good job of coming back never giving up and showing some fight. Isabelle stepped up and had a huge kill for us on the overpass and came back with a block to put us up by one.”
The win puts Bob Jones at 2-0 in the area with a home game against Buckhorn next Tuesday night.
