Lady Dawgs volleyball starts strong

After dropping a pair of games to start its 2022 season, Franklin County High School’s varsity volleyball team took three-straight victories — including its district opener this week.

On Monday, Aug. 15, the Lady Bulldogs took a trio of straight-set road wins over Wesson, 25-12, 25-19 and 25-16.

In the first set against the Lady Cobras, Niyla Wright dominated with nine service points in a row that included an ace while team captain Gabrielle O’Quinn tacked on six and Karlee Wallace and Ja’Kya Brown had one point apiece — with Wallace credited with an ace.

Brown had a team-high four service points in the second set with Wallace and O’Quinn recording three each along with an ace for O’Quinn and Indayshia Morgan scoring two points.

Sadye Scott and Wright had one service point each with Wright collecting an ace.

The final set saw Wallace lead the Lady Dawgs with 10 service points with O’Quinn adding six and Scott contributing one.

On Thursday, Aug. 11, Franklin County swept the Brookhaven Lady Panthers, 25-23, 25-16 and 25-22, on the road.

Brown controlled the opening set with six-straight service points with Wright adding five and Wallace and Scott tacking on two apiece along with an ace for Wallace.

Brown continued her hot serving hand against Ole Brook with eight service points in a row with an ace midway through the second set.

O’Quinn added seven points and an ace in the same set while Wallace scored one.

The deciding set featured another strong performance with Brown leading all Lady Dawgs with eight points with Kennedy Washington coming in to add four and Scott contributed two.

On Tuesday, Aug. 9, FC upended Natchez High School, 25-11, 25-23 and 25-15 in another road trip.

Brown accounted for 11 of her team’s service points in the first set with O’Quinn adding five, Wallace and Wright scoring two each and Washington chipping in one.

The second set witnessed Wallace score the final 10 service points of the frame for the win with Maddie Moak contributing three, O’Quinn adding two and Brown chipping in one.

O’Quinn paced the Lady Dawgs with eight service points in the final set of the night.

Others scoring for FC included Wright with five, Morgan with two and Wallace with one.

The Lady Bulldogs traveled to Salem to open their season on Friday, Aug. 5 and came up on the short end of decisions to both the host team and Tylertown in the multi-team contest.

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JUNIOR VARSITY

The JV Lady Bulldogs volleyball team dropped its district opener at Wesson on Monday, Aug. 15, 25-8, 17-25 and 15-17.

In the first-set win, FC’s Kaylin Washington recorded her team’s final 10 service points with a pair of aces along the way.

Sophia Miller finished strong with seven points to her credit while Lauren McCaa had three (with an ace) and Gre’Yonne Queen scored twice.

The second set saw Brandi Wallace and Gabi Hannon with three service points each and Katie Temple and Kennedi Cook with two apiece.

Brandi Wallace, Cook and Temple each had a single ace to their credit.

McCaa led the third set against the Lady Cobras with six-straight service points with Katherine Romero recording two and Kaylin Washington adding one.

FC’s JV volleyballers took the best two-of-three sets on the road Thursday, Aug. 11 at Brookhaven, 25-23, 15-25 and 15-4.

McCaa led the first set with six points and a single ace while Miller added four, Queen and Kaylin Washington had three each (with both having a lone ace) and Mackenzie Starks and Romero with one each.

The second set was led by FC’s Temple, who scored five with an ace and Hannon tacked on two with A’Niyah Bee and Cook having one each and Cook getting an ace.

McCaa blazed the path in the final set against the Lady Panthers with a season-high 13 service points in a row to ice the win.

On Tuesday, Aug. 9, the squad took two of three on the road from Natchez, 17-25, 25-22 and 15-13, and split decisions in games played at Salem on Friday, Aug. 5.

FC was slated to host its home opener on Tuesday, Aug. 16 against Natchez, but results from those contests were not available at press time.

The Lady Dawgs will next face Port Gibson at home in a district contest on Tuesday, Aug. 23 and will travel to face district foe Crystal Springs on Thursday, Aug. 25.

Franklin County ends the month with a road trip to face district opponent Hazlehurst on Tuesday, Aug. 30.