NEW HOPE — They had to try it.
New Hope volleyball coach Allison Woolbright knows that late-season adjustments can often go awry, but when she and assistant Becky Hudgins realized the Trojans’ 5-1 rotation was leaving the team without a blocker on the front row and leading to frustration on the back, they decided it was time for a change.
The Trojans, realizing last Saturday’s tournament at Hartfield Academy didn’t matter for district standings or postseason seeding, switched to a 6-2 scheme, bringing Marlee Davis in as a second setter alongside Annie Woolbright. So far, the decision has paid off.
“Having three blockers and three hitters on the front row really has helped our back row,” coach Woolbright said. “They’re getting touches and being able to defend the ball a little bit better.”
New Hope’s new scheme certainly hit its stride Thursday against Caledonia as the Trojans earned their second straight-set win over their rivals this season. Set scores were 25-12, 25-16 and 25-14.
Thursday’s contest was the fourth annual Dig Pink Game featuring the two Lowndes County schools. All proceeds, including concessions, donations and raffle tickets, went to the Side-Out Foundation to further the research and treatment of Stage IV breast cancer.
“It’s just really good being able to come out here and win for such a good cause,” Annie Woolbright said.
The Trojans won a Dig Pink contest for the first time since the game was first hosted at Caledonia in 2017, earning some retribution for a sweep at their rivals’ hands last season. But Caledonia graduated seven seniors, and New Hope brought back its whole roster.
Thursday, the Trojans’ experience paid off.
“They’ve lost a lot of players, but they’ve always been a good team,” Woolbright said. “We just happened to be the better team this year.”
Caledonia coach Samantha Brooks noted that her team picked up wins in the middle school and junior varsity games earlier Thursday, so the night wasn’t “a complete loss,” but she expected her varsity squad to play a bit better given its familiarity with facing New Hope and watching the Trojans play.
“I feel like overall, we played our game, but we did not match up with their quick offense,” Brooks said.
Daylyn Nettles led the high-powered Trojans with 15 kills, while Madyson McBrayer and Megan Neeb added five apiece. New Hope came out swinging early by winning the first eight points and took the first set 25-12.
Caledonia’s best showing was in the second set, making a stand early to lead 8-6. But New Hope netted five points in a row, Nettles had a monster kill to push the lead to 15-10 shortly thereafter, and the Trojans pulled away once again. They had little issue in the third set, winning it 25-14 to claim the match.
The Trojans’ effort was good to see from a team that often tends to play to the level of its competition, coach Woolbright said. But the Trojans showed they were the better team Thursday.
“I think we played really well,” Woolbright said. “I think our energy from the very first ball was high, and I think they kept it at that level all night.”
New Hope’s performance excited its sizable crowd, which was as big as could be under a 25 percent capacity limit. As always, the rivalry win was a “great feeling” for the Trojans, their coach said.
“For our students here at New Hope, anytime you beat Caledonia, it’s a pretty big thing,” Woolbright said. “We had a lot of kids here because it was Caledonia and all.”
But in the Trojans’ huddle after the match, Woolbright reminded her players that their opponents remain their friends off the court and outside the gym. She implored New Hope to stay classy in victory, just as Caledonia did in its prior wins, for the sake of sportsmanship.
“Last year, we were in that position of not being the winner, and this year it was us,” Woolbright said. “Who knows next year what it’ll be?”
‘Our ultimate goal’
When the calendar hits October — Breast Cancer Awareness Month — Annie Woolbright says she often thinks about her seventh-grade math teacher, Heather Henry.
Henry beat the disease the year before Woolbright was in her class, and the New Hope setter got to see her teacher recover and improve.
“It was really cool seeing her get back in action and go back to her daily routine like she just couldn’t really do,” Woolbright said.
Woolbright was playing with Henry in her mind during Thursday’s Dig Pink Game, and she wasn’t the only one. Brooks honored her grandmother, Katherine Becker, who survived the disease. Coach Woolbright said her grandmother died from breast cancer, and several other family members and friends have been affected.
It was clear from the Trojans’ pink jerseys to the posters hanging on the side and back walls of the New Hope gym that breast cancer was on everyone’s mind Thursday.
“To me, it’s a really scary thing,” Coach Woolbright said. “It’s just something that women have to, unfortunately, think about and do what they can to protect themselves.”
Thursday’s Dig Pink event involved raising money to beat the disease, and both schools delivered. Coach Woolbright said money was still coming in from New Hope as of Wednesday and won’t be counted to the weekend, but the high quantity and quality of Thursday’s raffle prizes was a great sign. Caledonia raised over $2,600 by Wednesday night alone, and its players devoted themselves to the event.
“It’s just such a neat cause,” Brooks said. “I felt like the girls really dove in and worked hard to get raffle prizes and to earn money, and that was our ultimate goal.”
Other scores
Starkville 3, Germantown 2
STARKVILLE — Starkville High School volleyball outlasted Germantown in five sets Thursday in Starkville.
Set scores were 26-24, 25-17, 16-25, 24-26 and 15-9 as the Yellow Jackets rebounded from dropping the first two sets.
Starkville will host New Hope at 6:30 p.m. Monday.
Prep Girls Soccer
Heritage Academy 8, Columbus Christian Academy 0
The Heritage Academy girls soccer team will finish the season with a winning record for a third straight season, the first time the Patriots have achieved that feat in school history.
The Patriots beat Columbus Christian Academy 8-0 on Thursday to wrap up a 6-5-1 regular season.
Sarah Curtis scored two goals, while Chloe Boyd, Hanna Hardy, Caroline Peal, Haven Tuggle and Emma Britt also scored. The Patriots got their first tally of the night on an own goal by the Rams.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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