STARKVLLE – While Starkville High School is enjoying its deepest run in the school’s volleyball history, the Lady Jackets are having fun with it.
Starkville (22-10) plays at DeSoto Central (34-8) today for the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class III North State championship.
Match time is set for 4:30 p.m. It is Starkville’s first-ever appearance in the North State finals. Ironically, Starkville makes this round one year after New Hope also played in its first-ever North State championship.
“We are excited because this is the deepest we have ever gone in the playoffs,” Starkville junior middle blocker April Reese said. “There is a lot of pressure but we are just trying to have fun. At the beginning of the season, we thought we could play for the championship. Now, we are a match away, so everybody is excited.”
Starkville finished the regular season as the Region 1 runner-up to DeSoto Central. In the postseason, Starkville has breezed to a pair of victories – 3-0 over Region 2 third-place team Clinton and Region 2 champion Northwest Rankin.
“It is a testament to the girls and how hard they have worked,” Starkville sixth-year coach Lauren Love said. “They have committed themselves to being one of the top programs. What they have done is left a legacy that teams in the future will benefit from. Each team in the future will know how to achieve this kind of success.”
Starkville’s first-round win over Clinton was the first postseason victory under Love. With some of the nerves jettisoned, Starkville could play free and easy in its win over Northwest Rankin.
The Lady Jackets were rarely threatened in the 25-14, 25-19, 25-17 victory.
“It is all about teamwork and communication,” Starkville senior outside hitter Khris Carr said. “We have communicated really well in the playoffs. Everybody knows their role and we have been working hard to get to the state championship. There is always a little doubt at first, but once we had the success against Clinton, it really picked everybody up.”
Carr leads the team with 321 kills, while Reese is second with 221. Senior Vicky Vo leads the team with 483 assists, while Carr and Reese are one-and-two in digs with 177 and 175 respectively. Senior Courtney Wilson is next with 140.
Starkville enters the match having won six of its last seven matches. The lone loss was a 3-1 setback at DeSoto Central in the lone regular-season matchup between region rivals.
“We learned a lot from that match,” Carr said. “We had some things that we could have done better. We are playing with more confidence right now. Hopefully, we play our best and advance.”
Follow Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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