Volleyball teams continue to roll through season

Franklin County’s varsity volleyball team has made its way into the home stretch of the 2022 season with a 14-6 overall record and a 7-2 standing in district play.

FC took district wins over regional foes Wesson Attendance Center and Port Gibson while claiming a victory over Florence during a weekend tournament.

The squad, however, came up short against Warren Central in that same tourney.

On Monday, Sept. 26, the Lady Bulldogs took three-of-four set victories to down Wesson’s Lady Cobras for the second time this season.

FC took Monday’s first set, 25-19, with Niyla Wright leading the way with seven service points. Karlee Wallace recorded five points, which included a trio of aces, while Gabrielle O’Quinn, Ja’Kya Brown and Sadye Scott each had one.

Wesson rebounded in the second set to win 25-22 with FC’s Wallace having a team-high six service points. Scott added three and Wright had two.

Franklin County charged back in the third and fourth sets — winning 25-22 and 25-7, respectively.

Wallace continued to have the hot hand with four service points in the third set while O’Quinn and Wright contributed two each and Scott had one.

The final set was dominated by O’Quinn’s seven service points. Wright also tacked on five while Scott added four and Brown and Kennedy Washington finished with two each.
FC previously downed Wesson on the road back on Aug. 15, upending the Lady Cobras, 25-12, 15-19 and 25-16.

On Saturday, Sept. 24, the Lady Dawgs traveled to take part in the Warren Central round robin tournament and defeated Florence, but fell to Warren Central’s A and B teams.

Against Florence, FC fell in the first set, 17-25, and came back to win two sets in a row, 25-19 and 15-11.

In the initial outing, Franklin County had only six service points — Wright, 3; Brown, 2; and Scott, 1.

The second set was led by Brown’s seven service points with Wright chipping in four and Wallace finishing with two. O’Quinn and Washington ended up with one each.

In the final set, the Lady Dawgs mustered six service points — four from Wright and two from Wallace — with the team’s other nine points coming off Florence turnovers.

Against Warren Central’s B team, FC won the opener, 26-24, but fell in the second and third sets by 22-25 and 13-15 margins.

To start the first set of the match, Scott had four service points while Wallace and Brown had three each, O’Quinn and Washington had two apiece and Wright had one.

Franklin scored 13 service points in the second set with O’Quinn collecting five while Wallace and Wright each scored four.

The final set against Warren Central’s B team saw Washington pace her squad with four service points and Brown had three.

The Warren Central A team took straight-set wins — 25-11 and 25-14 — over the Lady Bulldogs.

Franklin’s only service points — three from Washington — came in the first set with O’Quinn, Wright and Brown each scoring one point in the second set.
On Tuesday, Sept. 20 at Port Gibson, the Lady Bulldogs claimed another win over the Lady Blue Waves — 25-10, 25-19 and 25-18.

FC took the first series over Port Gibson at home back on Tuesday, Aug. 23 — 25-18, 25-18 and 25-17.

During last week’s rematch, O’Quinn paced the first set with five service points as Wright and Scott added four each. Wallace and Washington scored one apiece.

The second set belonged to FC’s Wright, who accounted for eight points, including seven in a row. Brown, Scott and Washington added two service points each.

Brown led in the final set with four points while Wallace and Washington had three each and Wright ended with two. O’Quinn also made the tally sheet with one point.

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JUNIOR VARSITY

Franklin County’s JV volleyball squad lost a heartbreaker to Wesson Attendance Center’s Lady Cobras —16-25 and 24-26 — on Monday, Sept. 26 in Meadville.

The Lady Dawgs’ Gre’Yonne Queen paced her team with three service points and an ace with one point each coming from Kailyn Washington, Makenzie Starks and Katherine Romero.

The second set saw Lauren McCaa and Sophia Miller lead FC with five points apiece while Queen and Kennedi Cook recorded one each.

The Lady Bulldogs had previously beaten Wesson, 25-7 and 25-9, on the road back on Tuesday, Aug. 23.

Against Port Gibson on Tuesday, Sept. 20, Franklin County took back-to-back set wins over the Lady Blue Waves.

In the 25-10 first-set win, FC was led by Miller’s 10 service points. Starks added five for the Lady Dawgs while Kailyn Washington tacked on one.

McCaa had the advantage in the second set thanks to seven service points. Starks wound up with three in the outing while Miller and Queen each finished with one.

Both the junior varsity and varsity volleyball teams were slated to return to action on Tuesday, Sept. 27 to face off against Hazlehurst — the final district contest of the regular season.

Tuesday’s game also marked the annual “Senior Night” observance for six FC upperclassmen — Ja’Kya Brown, Maddie Moak, Gabrielle O’Quinn, Amberly Wallace, Karlee Wallace and Niyla Wright.

A summary of those games and the Senior Night festivities will appear in next week’s edition of The Franklin Advocate as the contests were played past press deadline.

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MIDDLE SCHOOL

Franklin County Middle School’s winning streak grew to 10 games on Tuesday, Sept. 20 as the Lady Bulldogs upended Port Gibson, 25-16 and 25-12.
Aubrey Windom led the first set against the Lady Blue Waves with four service points. Kaleigh King and Savannah Emfinger chipped in two each with service points also coming from Kaydence McCaa.

King paced the Lady Dawgs with 11 service points — all in a row — in the second-set win with points also scored by Emma Claire Stebbins and Emfinger.