Sneads & Marianna Win Districts

By Clint Cox

Two Jackson County varsity volleyball squads claimed their respective district championships last week and in doing so advanced to the first round of the FHSAA Playoffs.

The Sneads Lady Pirates captured their second straight Class 2A District Two Championship with a 3-1 win over the Lady Tigers of Blountstown. The match was played in Cottondale last Thursday night and the Lady Pirates got out of the gates quickly winning game one 25-23 and game two 25-10. Game three went the way of Blountstown by a score of 25-18. The deciding game however went to Sneads as they posted a 25-20 victory.

With that win over Blountstown the Lady Pirates, played host to Pensacola Christian on Tuesday night in round one of the playoffs. Game one went to Sneads in relatively easy fashion as the Lady Pirates jumped out to a 9-2 lead. With Meagan Smith, Kara Alford and Mattie Collins racking up kills Sneads went on to a 25-17 win. Game two was not so easy as the Lady Warriors jumped out to 12-3 lead. Sneads did not quit though and with Ashley Smith recording 9 straight service points the Lady Pirates rallied to tie the game at 13-13. From there the game went back and forth with neither team able to pull ahead by more than two points. With the game tied at 22-22 Ashley Smith served up two service points and Collins finished the game off with a kill to give the Lady Pirates a 25-23 win. Game three saw the Lady Warriors again jump out to a lead and once again Sneads rallied to tie the game at 16-16. Sneads surgred ahead to a 22-17 lead but could not hold the lead. Pensacola Christian rallied and eventually won the game 27-25. The fourth game was another slow start for Sneads but this time they rallied quicker to tie the game at 5-5. The lead changed back and forth before the Lady Warriors went up 15-12. With Meagan Smith serving Sneads went up 17-15. The Lady Warriors went back up and led 21-18 before Sneads rallied one more time to get back in the running. The Lady Pirates battled their way to 27-25 win with Meagan Smith serving up an ace to get the game and match winning point. The Lady Pirates are now 19-9 on the season and will next be in action on Tuesday when they host Baker. The Lady Gators beat Blountstown 3-0 to improve to 14-3.

The Marianna Lady Bulldogs laid claim to the Class 3A District Two Championship with a 3-0 win over Chipley last Thursday in Bonifay. Game one went to Marianna by a score of 25-17 while game two and three were much closer. Both games went to a final score of 25-22 in Marianna’s favor. Randa Hickman led the way with 16 service points and nine kills. Jordan Sonaglia racked up 25 spikes and 8 kills. Marianna improved to 19-7 on the season and were scheduled to play host to Walton County on Wednesday night in round one of the FHSAA playoffs. Results of that contest were not available at press time. Should the Lady Bulldogs beat Walton they would play again on Tuesday in the Regional Semi-Finals as they would host the winner of Pensacola Catholic and Chipley.