CALEDONIA — Annie Woolbright and her New Hope teammates were able to laugh it off when the freshman setter briefly caught the volleyball late in the third set of Monday’s season-opening match at rival Caledonia.
Woolbright returned to the huddle smiling and mimicking the illegal motion she had just made, which prompted a referee to blow the whistle and award Caledonia the point. The Trojans laughed together, emulating Woolbright’s movements, before lining up at their positions once again.
Of course, that might have had something to do with the score.
“If we’d been losing, her reaction probably would have been a little different,” New Hope coach Allison Woolbright said.
Instead, it was all smiles — and no hard feelings — for a play as harmless as the younger Woolbright’s as New Hope won the next two points to claim a 3-0 sweep of its rival. Set scores were 25-11, 25-14 and 25-13 in favor of the Trojans, who have grown so close — and so good — that the occasional misplay hardly matters.
“We’re kind of able to just shake things off and make that a funny thing,” Annie Woolbright said. “We’ll probably talk about that and joke about it at practice tomorrow.”
New Hope will certainly have plenty to talk about ahead of Tuesday’s district match at Columbus, including the ease which they dispatched a Caledonia team that beat them twice last season.
“They have always been a rival, and they have always been the better team,” coach Woolbright said. “Tonight, we just happened to be the better team.”
It wasn’t particularly close Monday, either. After Caledonia won the first two points of the match, New Hope ripped off an astounding streak of 20 consecutive points as sophomore Madyson McBrayer held serve for the Trojans.
“That was pretty awesome for Madyson,” coach Woolbright said. “Madyson has just greatly improved, and we’re really excited to see our younger girls really improving and moving into larger roles.”
Woolbright’s team didn’t have a single senior in last year’s historic run to the MHSAA Class 5A final four, and the Trojans used their returning experience to their advantage Monday night.
The team’s two seniors this year, Micaela Hudgins and Daylyn Nettles, made their presence known with nine kills apiece.
Annie Woolbright and her sister Kensley, a sophomore libero, provided plenty of support as black and gold jerseys moved seamlessly in concert across the court. Annie led the team with 23 assists; Kensley did the same with 21 digs.
“Our connection has gotten so strong over these past two seasons, and we’re just continuing to work on that,” Annie said. “I feel like tonight, our chemistry together was just so good. It was really electric and fun.”
That same chemistry was lacking on the Caledonia side of the floor — and perhaps understandably so, according to coach Samantha Brooks. The team lost seven seniors, including all six starters, leaving players without experience at the highest level of high school competition.
“Really, all of our main positions graduated,” Brooks said.
Caledonia often looked out of sorts Monday, uncharacteristic for a team that also made its first ever final four last season, falling to Vancleave in the MHSAA Class 4A semifinals. Its main shortcoming against the Trojans was receiving serves, which the team also struggled with during weekend scrimmages against Tupelo and Starkville high schools.
McBrayer’s 20-point service streak in the first set was proof enough that Caledonia could use improvement in that area.
“Until we get that fixed, it’s going to be difficult to be a dominant team and be able to run an offense,” Brooks said.
New Hope had none of the same problems Monday, as the Trojans certainly appeared more dominant than perhaps they ever have.
“It is honestly amazing,” Annie Woolbright said. “This is history. We’re not going to go around and gloat about this, but it’s just really amazing to be able to come out here and do a sweep and win against Caledonia, one of the biggest rivalries New Hope’s ever had.”
Coach Woolbright said her team has been “fired up” since their season was postponed two weeks by the MHSAA, ready to finally hit the court Monday after a lot of worrying about whether or not they’d be able to at all.
And even though this season is clearly different than the last one — masks were worn on the benches and in the stands; tame waves replaced postgame handshakes — the Trojans were ecstatic to return to the floor.
“I’ve missed it so much,” Annie Woolbright said. “It just feels so good to get back out here, and I’m so thankful that everyone’s letting us keep on playing the sport we all love.”
Other scores
Prep Softball
Carroll Academy 21, Oak Hill Academy 4
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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