New Hope volleyball coach Allison Woolbright bounced up and down on the Trojans’ sideline, jabbing her index finger in the air.
She was reminding her players, who likely needed no reminding, just how close New Hope was to a win against Starkville — one point away.
Woolbright usually doesn’t pull out the gesture or let her players display it — “It jinxes us lots of times, and I don’t like to be so arrogant,” she said — but against the Yellow Jackets, whom her team had never before beaten, she thought it was the right time.
Two points later, Woolbright could lower her hand and raise her voice with the rest of the gym as Daylyn Nettles sealed off a four-set victory for the Trojans (14-8). After two straight early-season losses to the Yellow Jackets where New Hope didn’t manage to win a single set, the Trojans were able to earn plenty of revenge.
“It feels amazing because we know that we’re better than what we looked like the first time we played them,” freshman Madyson McBrayer said. “We just played our hearts out and did what we needed to do.”
McBrayer was a big part of the Trojans’ team effort that led to the 25-18, 13-25, 25-22, 25-17 victory over the Jackets (15-4) as New Hope rallied from a 2-3 showing over the weekend at the Tupelo Volleyfest.
“We just needed this win to boost up our confidence, and we just really needed to pull off a win for our team because we haven’t been on that streak,” McBrayer said. “So we really needed to get it.”
The upset win was never more in doubt than after the second set, which Starkville controlled from the get-go.
“I don’t know what happened in that second set,” Woolbright said.
The Jackets trailed once in the set — at 0-1 — en route to notching a 25-13 victory and took an 8-7 lead in the third set.
Then they lost six consecutive points and, soon, the set. New Hope jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the fourth set, and while Starkville got as close as 19-16, it wasn’t enough.
“They gave up,” Starkville coach Sierra Horel said. “It’s hard to come back from that. I don’t know if they were asleep or if they were mad, but they’ve gotta learn they can’t do that anymore. Once they get mad, it all falls to pieces.”
Missing junior starter Kyler Reeves, the Jackets were prone to miscommunication on the court. Late in the first set, for example, a softly struck ball floated to a stop on the hardwood in the middle of a pentagon of Starkville defenders, and that wasn’t the only time the Jackets were caught watching as New Hope racked up easy points.
Starkville battled back late in the third set to tie it at 22-22 before McBrayer drove the ball past junior Karlie Brooks for a critical kill. On the next point, two Jackets got tangled in the net, giving the Trojans a set point that they quickly converted.
“It was great to see them finish and not give up,” Woolbright said.
Both teams next play Thursday, as Starkville hosts Columbus, and New Hope travels to face Saltillo.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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