Hartsville volleyball competing well in 2024 and Football Update

By David Shelton

Senior Writer

Hartsville - As the regular season winds down, Hartsville High volleyball coach Parker Oldham feels his team is in good position to make a solid run in the 2024 class AAAA state playoffs.

Hartsville entered the second week of October with an 8-4 record overall and a 5-2 mark in region 5-AAAA, which placed them among the top three teams in the standings. Hartsville looks for a strong finish and is hoping to crack the top two by season’s end. Oldham’s goals for his team are simple.

“Win the region, host a playoff game, and make a deep run in the playoffs,” the coach said. We are well within our goals of winning the region and making the playoffs.”

Oldham describes his team as hard-working. He feels the team has strong leadership and a competitive spirit, to go with a great attitude and work ethic.’

Among the key contributors this season is junior outside hitter Myah Harvey, whose 102 kills leads the team. Harvey also has 30 service aces and 88 digs.

Senior middle blockers Carter Shumate and Riley Brunson are next in kills and control the middle of the net as solid defenders as well.

Sophomore setter Mya Madaris has more than 200 assists and nearly 100 defensive digs while junior Libero Ava Wilcox has 115 digs and 27 aces.

Rounding out the starting group are sophomore outside hitter Stella Smith and freshman opposite hitter Eliza Privette.

The team has good depth will several players seeing significant action off the bench. Those include sophomore defensive specialist Emmakate Hudson, junior defender Brianna Jones, senior opposite Cheyenne Peavy, and junior middle blocker Lindy Atkinson.

Football Update

As region play begins, the Hartsville football team sits with a 3-1-1 record and is playing solid football overall. Among the early wins was a victory over Dillon, which was the No.1 ranked team in AAA at the time.

One of the early season stars has been senior Da’Marion Coe, who has excelled defensively and on special teams. Coe returned two kicks for touchdowns in the win over Dillon and has three returns for scores this season. He also has 39 tackles, two blocked field goals and a blocked punt.

Senior Hakeem Watters has anchored the running game with 446 yards, averaging 7.3 yards per carry. Kylif Miller has 349 yards and averages 7.0 yards per carry.

Quarterback EJ Smith has thrown for 600 yards and five touchdowns while adding six scores on the ground. Casey Hawkins and Dorian Mason are the top pass-catchers.

Linebacker Coleman Radcliff has a team-high 49 tackles. Web Barnes has tallied 39 tackles and Jackson Chavis has 28 tackles.