FC varsity volleyballs falls in playoff opener

Franklin County’s 2022 varsity volleyball season run came to a close on Saturday, Oct. 8 as the Lady Dawgs battled Enterprise of Clarke County in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs in Meadville.

Enterprise, the No. 3 seed from District 5, defeated FC, the No. 2 seed from District 7, in straight sets, 25-14, 25-23 and 25-13.

In the first set, Enterprise’s Reagan Winstead set the tempo for her team with 13-straight service points while Whitley Harris added four and Claire Thornhill recorded one.

For FC in the initial frame, Ja’Kya Brown led the Lady Dawgs with four service points with one each coming from Karlee Wallace, Niyla Wright and Kennedy Washington.

Eighteen of the visiting team’s 25 points came off serves with two aces while seven of FC’s scoring total resulted from serves with one ace recorded by Washington.

The outcome of the second set was a lot closer with Wright pacing Franklin County with seven service points and an ace with Gabrielle O’Quinn contributing three, Brown adding two and Sadye Scott finishing with one.

Enterprise’s Camry Johnson led her team with six of its 14 service points as Zoe Boos scored three, Delaney Perry chipped in two and Thornhill, Emma Hill and Kylee Raye Dewitt had one each.

The Lady Dawgs saw 10 of their points come off turnovers while Enterprise ended up with nine points from side-outs.

In the third set, FC’s Wallace had a team-high five service points — all in a row — while Scott and Washington ended with one each.

Enterprise’s Johnson reeled off nine-straight service points to start the set and added the last three to seal the victory for her team. In addition, Harris scored four while Perry and Boos chipped in one apiece.

Enterprise advanced to face off against Raleigh, which was the 6-3A regional volleyball champion, in the second round of the playoffs this week.

FC ended its season with a 14-8 overall record while going 8-2 in 7-3A district play.

The Lady Dawgs defeated Wesson, Port Gibson, Crystal Springs and Hazlehurst twice each during this year’s campaign, but lost twice to the eventual district champion, Saint Andrews.

At one point during the season, FC had a 10-game winning streak between Tuesday, Aug. 9 through Thursday, Sept. 1.

This was the third year for the FC volleyball program under the leadership of Ashley Weathersby and Tasha Scott as coaches.

Against Warren Central on the road in the regular season finale played on Tuesday, Oct. 4, Franklin County fell in three sets, 9-25, 10-25 and 20-25.

Wallace and O’Quinn scored one service point each in the first set with Wallace recording two and Scott finishing with one in the second set.

The third set saw FC’s Wallace lead the way with four service points as Brown added two and Washington had one.

Against Warren Central, the Lady Dawgs got seven turnover points each in the first and second sets and 13 in the third set.

FC varsity team members (and their uniform numbers) included: Kennedy Washington, 4; Marianna Thomas, 5; Ja’Kya Brown, 9; Maddie Moak, 13; Gabrielle O’Quinn, 15; Amberly Wallace, 16; Sadye Scott, 17; Karlee Wallace, 18; Niyla Wright, 19; and Indayshia Morgan, 21.