West volleyball finishes first cycle of district play unbeaten, defeats Jefferson County
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The Morristown West volleyball team has been rolling this season, and on Tuesday night they continued the trend.
They swept Jefferson County despite senior standout Brie Blevins being sidelined to injury, bringing their winning streak to seven consecutive.
“I was very pleased with how the girls played today,” West head coach Lacey Price Evans said.
“We had an unfortunate injury yesterday and had to move some things around, so I was very pleased to see how everyone adapted and performed.”
Fellow seniors Bella Forte and Haley Cabe stepped up big in her absence. Forte finished with 14 kills, with Cabe turning in eight of her own to go along with 12 digs.
“Haley and Bella both had a great night hitting, they were able to move the ball around and work around the block, so I was very impressed with them,” Evans said.
Forte and Cabe weren’t the only ones with big nights for the Lady Trojans. Emma Miller had two aces, 16 assists and 11 digs. Sydney Price had an ace to go with 13 assists and five digs. Aubrie Messer had nine kills and two blocks. Kenzie Collins had 18 digs and a pair of assists, and Delaney Weddington turned in three blocks and three kills.
The sweep didn’t come without its hiccups, however. The first set was a back and forth one. The Lady Trojans took the early lead, but the Lady Patriots recorded six consecutive points to take the 18-19 lead.
Messer, a junior staple for West, responded, coming up with a crucial kill for the Lady Trojans that spurned a seven-point run of their own. She went on to record an ace, as Forte and Weddington each came up with kills to give the Lady Trojans the set 25-19.
The second set went similar to the first. West jumped out to a 4-1 lead, but Jefferson County clawed back, and through 17 points the set sat at 9-8 in favor of the Lady Trojans.
West went on another run led by three kills from Forte, and took the 21-14 lead. The Lady Patriots cut the lead to 21-17, but Messer saw to it that it wouldn’t go further than that. She picked up a pair of kills and a block as the Lady Trojans pulled out set number two 25-20.
Set three brought a back and forth start as well, with eight lead changes on the way to things being knotted up at 14 apiece.
Ella Huffaker had a big day for the Lady Patriots, and came up with kills on three of those 14 points, as well as an ace.
The Lady Trojans took the next three points, each coming from kills from Messer and Cabe. Forte had two more kills of her own as West extended its lead, and Weddington turned in the winning kill.
The win was West’s seventh in a row, keeping them atop the District 2-3A as they finished the first cycle of district play unbeaten.
Their rematch with Morristown East is set for Thursday at 6:00 p.m. West handed East its only District loss to date the last time the teams faced off in a five set thriller of a match.
“It’s hard to believe that it’s already time to play them, it feels like we just played them last week,” Evans said. “For this next matchup it’s just about playing hard each set, making adjustments when needed and working through like we do each game.”
Jefferson County looks ahead to Sevier County on Thursday, where they’ll look to pick up their first win of the season.

