Volleyball: JHS off to 6-1 start

The Dragons, who return four junior starters this year, were led by Taylor Cramsey with 6 kills, while Sarah Wood added five.

Other leaders were Amanda Daniel, who had 13 assists, and Cassie Metcalf, who had three aces.

“We were sluggish at the start and did not have the best day passing while playing a very scrappy Tallulah Falls team in front of a large home crowd,” coach Mike Paul said. “Our girls played well enough to win and for that we are thankful.”

Jefferson started the season by winning five of six matches at the Hall Classic Saturday, including a 2-1 victory over Class AAA’s no. 8 squad, North Hall.

“Overall it was a great day,” Paul said. “We got to see a lot of players (Saturday) and get a good feel for what we need to work on. The girls played very hard and responded to every challenge.”

The Dragons started the day with two wins at the East Hall High School gym where they beat Chestatee (2-0) and host East Hall (2-0). Jefferson then went 3-1 in a series of matches at East Hall Community Center where it beat Hart County (2-1), Tallulah Falls (2-0) and highly-ranked North Hall.

The lone loss of the tournament was a 2-0 setback to Athens Academy, ranked no. 5 in Class AA/A.

Cramsey finished the day with 37 kills, while Daniel had a .500 kill percentage. Brianna Patterson was solid in the back row while Eden Starnes, Savanna Holland and Metcalf “all had a big influence on the outcome of all the matches,” Paul said.

Prior to the Hall Classic, Jefferson beat Mountain View High School, out of Gwinnett County, 3-1 Thursday at home in a best of five preseason scrimmage match.