NEW HOPE — Daylyn Nettles knew something had to give.
With her New Hope team and opposing Starkville bringing identical 5-0 records into Thursday evening’s match, the senior outside hitter and her Trojans teammates were understandably nervous.
“Tonight,” Nettles reasoned, “was going to be the night one of us had to lose.”
So she made sure it wouldn’t be New Hope.
Nettles led the way with 17 kills as the Trojans calmed their nerves to beat the Yellow Jackets in straight sets Thursday and improve to 6-0 on the season.
“They settled down and pulled it through,” New Hope coach Allison Woolbright said.
Set scores were 25-18, 25-16 and 25-20 as the Trojans kept alive their streak of winning every set so far this regular season. In a tournament Aug. 29 in Brookhaven, they won seven out of eight sets over the course of four two-set contests, dropping just one set to Corinth.
Otherwise, New Hope has been practically perfect, and Thursday’s win over Starkville (5-1) solidified that for the Trojans.
“I really have confidence that we can go all the way this year, and we’re only getting better every practice and every day,” Nettles said.
New Hope reached the MHSAA Class 5A semifinals last season without a single senior on the roster, and Nettles said the team’s familiarity and cohesiveness have only grown with time.
Starkville coach Sierra Pittman saw that, too, realizing the Jackets didn’t come prepared to beat a team of the Trojans’ caliber.
“We know how good and how scrappy they are, and I think we kind of underestimated how great their potential really has become,” Pittman said.
Starkville won the first two points of the first set and the opening point of the second set just to watch New Hope surge into the lead and never relinquish it. Pittman said she was disappointed that the Jackets’ struggles coming back continued into a contest with stakes as high as Thursday’s.
“That’s one thing we’ve been trying to work on in practice, but we’ve got to start in practice more so we can show it in a game,” Pittman said.
Starkville improved on that in the third set, where a block by Jakailyn Brown was the third straight Jackets point, tying the set at 12-12. Brown had another kill soon afterward to put Starkville ahead 14-13, but it was then that New Hope’s “next point” mentality saved the Trojans from dropping a set.
“The next point is what matters,” Woolbright said. “If we can get that point, then it’s a new ballgame, and we start over, and we just move forward from there.”
Senior middle blocker Micaela Hudgins dropped a soft shot onto the Starkville side of the court for a kill, MaKayla Johnson followed with a kill, and Madyson McBrayer had an ace.
Then Nettles slammed down a kill of her own on the next point, celebrating so excitedly with her teammates that she didn’t notice the volleyball had been tossed back over to the New Hope side. It hit her lightly in the head, eliciting surprise and laughter.
“I was not expecting the ball to hit me at all,” Nettles said, smiling, after the match.
New Hope won four of the next five points, watched the deficit narrow to 22-20 and took the last three points to complete the sweep against a dangerous Starkville team led by Brown and senior Brayland Ferguson.
“This was probably our best competition,” Woolbright said. “Their front row is just amazing, and their setter is also amazing. We knew going into it that it was going to be very challenging.”
But New Hope prevailed regardless, walking off the court with a win that proved to be exciting — but also a little scary in some ways, Woolbright said.
“I worry about the next game,” she said. “I think we have the potential to go really far and be successful, but I want my girls to stay humble and continue to work hard and to take every team that we play as a serious opponent and play like we played tonight every time we play. If we do that, then we will be successful.”
Other scores
Caledonia 3, New Albany 1
NEW ALBANY — Caledonia earned a four-set win over New Albany in Thursday’s road match.
Set scores were 25-22, 26-24, 16-25 and 25-17.
Caledonia caught up from a 22-14 deficit to win the pivotal second set, even trailing 24-21 before winning the next five points.
Caledonia will host Starkville at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Grenada 3, Columbus 0
GRENADA — Columbus High School was swept by Grenada in Thursday’s road match.
Set scores were 25-11, 25-13 and 25-23.
The Falcons (0-2) will host Grenada on Sept. 10.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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