Wilson Hall volleyball has another strong season

By Dennis Brunson

        hssr.com Associate Editor

         Sumter – It wouldn’t have been a surprise if the Wilson Hall volleyball team took a little dip this year. After all, the Lady Barons lost four major contributors in Maggie Norris, Sullivan Jarecki, Aubrey Payne and Rylee Bath from a team that went 36-8-1 on the season and went 1-2 in the SCISA AAAA state tournament.

           If there’s been a dip, however, it hasn’t been much of one. Wilson Hall is 26-6 overall and 3-4 in Region 3 with just two regular-season matches remaining.

The Barons rebounded from a 0-3 start in region play. They lost to Trinity Collegiate, Hilton Head Christian Academy and John Paul II before beating Laurence Manning Academy twice and getting revenge against Hilton Head Christian in the rematch. Wilson Hall lost the second meeting to John Paul II.

           The Barons had a non-region match against Pinewood Prep on October 10 before closing out the regular season and the region schedule against Trinity Collegiate on October 14.

           The top returning player from last season is senior middle hitter Olivia Cogswell. She has 157 kills, 21 service aces, 80 digs, 18 assists and is tied for the team lead in blocks with 40.

           The main standout for Wilson Hall is an eighth-grader in setter/outside hitter McKinley Bath. She leads the Barons in kills with 257 and digs with 263 and is tied for second in aces with 58 and assists with 258.

           Sophomore middle hitter Beaty Zeigler shares the lead for blocks with Cogswell, while senior rightside hitter Molly Jones and senior middle hitter Anna Kate Coker both have 14 and Bath 13. Jones has 120 kills and Coker has 104.

           Senior defensive specialist McKenzie Gray Mills leads in digs with 352 while junior defensive specialist Addie Griffin has 147, sophomore setter/defensive specialist Natlie Hawkey 143 and sophomore defensive specialist Savannah Wells 134, Hawkey is the assists lead with 320 while Mills has 77.

           Mills is far and away the leader in serves received with 434 to go with just 49 receiving errors. Wells has 200 serves received, Griffin 147 and Hawkey 145.

           Other members of the team are senior outside hitter/defensive specialist Camryn Wilmes, sophomore outside hitter Mary Todd Champion and junior defensive specialist Adalin Brown.

`          Wilson Hall will be competing in the AAAA state tournament in Myrtle Beach on October 18-19.