The East Jackson Lady Eagles’ volleyball season got under way on Saturday with an area play date Saturday. The team went 1-3, but according to coach Tim Thomas, the outcome could have been better.
“(We) could have easily been 2-2 if we had played our best,” he said.
Green County
The Lady Eagles started out against Green County and won in two sets, 25-16 and 25-15.
“We tried several different lineup combinations in this one so the score really doesn’t reflect how one-sided it was,” Thomas said. “Greene is just getting started and this was their first match ever.”
Thomas said despite the win, the team was way off of its game.
Athens Academy
As good as things went against Green County, they didn’t do nearly as well against Athens Academy, losing in two sets 25-5 and 25-6.
“Athens is easily the best team in our area,” Thomas said. “We’re not even near their level at this point, but we did learn a big lesson here.
Our back row has to be solid in receiving the opponents’ serve, and it wasn’t in this match. The good thing is that we have the personnel to do it, we just have to do a better job in practice of coaching them on this.”
Lakeview
After the roughing up the team got from Athens Academy, the Lady Eagles made more of a stand against Lakeview Academy, but still came up on the losing end in two sets, 25-7 and 25-12.
“Lakeview is also on a level above us, but not nearly to the extent Athens is,” Thomas said. “I thought we looked really sluggish against them and unfortunately it came at a time when we had a lot of folks watching.”
Thomas said the impression the team gave the fans in this match is not the one it wants them to get.
“We couldn’t move to the ball, we didn’t play together, and we couldn’t serve.”
Tallulah Falls
The final match of the day came against Tallulah Falls, and marked one of East Jackson’s best stands of the day. After a sluggish start in set one, resulting in a 25-18 loss, the Lady Eagles came alive with a great effort to win the second set 25-17. But they lost 25-17 in the final.
“This was the best match of the day,” Thomas said.
One of the day’s big moments for East Jackson came when junior Ansley Brooks took a shot off her face. Mikki McGinnis kept the ball in the air, and the Lady Eagles won the point.
“That shot kind of rallied the girls and helped to end the day on a good note as we played the best we have so far in this match.”
Thomas said that since the team played four matches, three JV girls dressed with the varsity. One, sophomore Jenna Dukes, played well enough that she was promoted to the varsity squad on the spot.
The Lady Eagles have a little time to catch their breath now. Their next match-ups will come on Monday, when they host Rabun County and Clarke Central.
