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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2010
Prep Volleyball
THE JACKSON HERALD
PAGE 3B
Volley Dragons go 5-1 in season-opening tourney
A JUNIOR-LADEN
Jefferson volleyball team is 6-1
and 1-0 in Area 8-AA/A North
play after beating Tallulah
Falls 25-20, 25-20 on the road
Tuesday night.
The Dragons, who return
four junior starters this year,
were led by Taylor Cramsey
with 6 kills, while Sarah Wood
added five.
Other leaders were Amanda
Daniel, who had 13 assists,
and Cassie Metcalf, who had
three aces.
“We were sluggish at the
start and did not have the best
day passing while playing a
very scrappy Tallulah Falls
team in front of a large home
crowd,” coach Mike Paul said.
“Our girls played well enough
to win and for that we are
thankful.”
Jefferson started the season
by winning five of six matches
at the Hall Classic Saturday,
including a 2-1 victory over
Class AAA's no. 8 squad.
North Hall.
“Overall it was a great day,”
Paul said. “We got to see a lot
of players (Saturday) and get a
good feel for what we need to
work on. The girls played very
hard and responded to every
challenge.”
The Dragons started the day
with two wins at the East Hall
High School gym where they
beat Chestatee (2-0) and host
East Hall (2-0). Jefferson then
went 3-1 in a series of matches
at East Hall Community Center
where it beat Hart County
(2-1), Tallulah Falls (2-0) and
highly-ranked North Hall.
The lone loss of the tour
nament was a 2-0 setback to
Athens Academy, ranked no. 5
in Class AA/A.
Cramsey finished the day
with 37 kills, while Daniel had
a .500 kill percentage. Brianna
Patterson was solid in the
back row while Eden Starnes,
Savanna Holland and Metcalf
“all had a big influence on the
outcome of all the matches,”
Paul said.
Panthers continued from IB
Though he may not have the game experi
ence, the sophomore made huge strides over the
summer at a three-day quarterback camp over
the summer in Chattanooga, Term., Kirk said.
“Either of them can thrive in
this system,” Kirk said.
Now, Panther coaches have to decide who
which quarterback will pull the trigger.
Kirk said both quarterbacks, though in
a major battle for playing time, are good
friends and have been supportive of each
other throughout the process. The scrimmage
and the chance to go against someone else
under the lights Friday will ultimately tip the
scales in one players' favor, Kirk said, head
ing into the Aug. 27 opener against Johnson.
Jackson County has had more competi
tion at positions in the preseason than
ever before, Kirk said, but quarterback
is still the area that’s most unsettled.
“That's kind of the last place we need
to see more stuff on film,” Kirk said.
Practice notes
Kirk said that senior Nick Oney continues
to impress, “which isn’t anything new.”
Oney, who is drawing offers from small
schools throughout the southeast, played comer-
back last year, but coaches may use him more
as a defensive back-linebacker hybrid this year.
Meanwhile a newcomer, Billy Manis, con
tinues to make waves at linebacker. Manis,
an all-region performer at Habersham Central
before transferring to Jackson County, has
raised the level of play around him.
“He's really stepped up,” Kirk said.
Elsewhere, Alex Crawford has moved
from quarterback to the defensive back-
field and continues to make a solid
transition to free safety, Kirk said.
Scrimmage notes
Kirk said the team, in general, is ready
to go against “a different color jersey” in
Friday's scrimmage against Athens Christian
after three weeks of preseason camp.
Varsity teams will play the first half. JV
players will enter in the second half, with var
sity players returning in the fourth quarter.
Everyone will play, which means coaches
will have the chance to evaluate everyone
on film. For players vying for playing time,
this is a last chance to impress before the
Aug. 27 season opener with Johnson.
“We hope to find a few surprises,” Kirk said.
The scrimmage means also that Jackson
County has transitioned out of preseason
practice mode to its typical game-week
routine, which is a change of pace.
“We stopped trying to beat each other up and
now we're just trying to refine it,” Kirk said.
Kirk said his players are “jacked”
for Friday's scrimmage and sus
pects that the community is too.
“I think our fans are just as excited as
we are as coaches ... I think the stands
will be packed Friday,” Kirk said.
NOTES: Admission to Friday's
scrimmage is $5. Regular season
ticket prices are $7 at the gate.
Bost continued from IB
In singles, Bost finished third over the
summer in the Georgia qualifier in Macon
and enjoyed a highly-successful doubles run
alongside playing partner Kyle Childree of
Smyrna. The pair won the doubles cham
pionship at the Georgia qualifier and man
aged a second-place finish against some of
the best players in the South at the USTA
Southern closed tournament in Rome.
Bost, who carries a no. 19 ranking in
the southeast, also earned a slot on the
USTA Southern team, which finished first
at the USTA Team Zonal Championship in
Winston Salem, N.C.
But the highlight of the summer came
when he learned that he’d qualified for a
spot in the USTA National Championships
in Kalamazoo, Mich. This is considered the
most elite junior tournament in the U.S.
Bost competed in this event earlier this
month, and though he didn't bring home
any hardware, facing the best players in the
nation was worth the 715-mile trip north.
“I didn’t do too well, but it was a great
experience ... It was very inspiring to me,”
Bost said.
Meanwhile, Bost’s tennis schedule con
tinues.
He will again team with Childree in a
doubles tournament this weekend. The duo
will compete in the 18s division instead
this time to see how they stack up against
players two years their senior.
Younger players are allowed to do so as
long as they carry a high enough ranking.
“We wanted to see how we could do in
the 18s,” Bost said.
He’ll also continue to train daily Hobson
High Performance Tennis Academy in
Snellville. There's an added twist to that
this school year, however. As a member of
the youth apprenticeship program, Bost is
allowed to leave school early for on-the-
job training at Hobson High Performance,
where he'll learn how to run a tennis acad
emy and teach kids. Bost said he’d eventu
ally like to make that his career.
In the meantime, he has his own tennis
game to hone.
Bost continues to push himself, saying
his stroke needs to get stronger and that
he needs to increase his quickness on the
court. After all, it’s that kind of dedication
that's made him one of the best players in
the state. But at the same time, he's confi
dent in how he's playing.
“There’s always something that I'm
going to be working on,” Bost said, “but
right now, I'm feeling pretty good about
it.”
Cross Country continued from IB
BOYS TEAM
WELCOMES NEW
RUNNERS
Jackson County is still trying
to build its boys’ cross country
program, but does have 15 run
ners this year, which is a start.
“That's a big improvement,”
Brubaker said.
Most of the team is brand
new, though it does return
junior Tyler Ledford, who's
recorded sub-19 minute time
and led Jackson County in
three meets last year.
Newcomers that could con
tribute for Jackson County
this year are senior transfer
Brian Nunez, freshman J.T.
Wood, sophomore Tyler
Manculich, sophomore
Dusty Haralson, sophomore
Danny Butler and senior
Spencer Feltner.
“I'm just waiting to see
how these guys develop,”
Brubaker said.
So far, both Nunez and
Woods have shown prom
ise in practice, according to
Brubaker.
The coach said he’s excit
ed about the higher partici
pation rate this year for the
boys but said there’s work to
be done.
“The ultimate goal is to
get five guys under 20 (min
utes),” he said. “You’ve got
to do that before you can do
anything competition-wise.”
Brubaker said that’s a
realistic goal as long as the
team continues to work and
stay healthy.
“Hopefully we’ll have
to readjust our goal ...
Whether its getting more
guys under 20 minutes or
five guys under 19 minutes,”
he said.
BIG DAY
SATURDAY
Jackson County’s
Katie Ruddick
had 15 kills over
the course of four
matches Saturday
at a play date at
East Jackson. The
volley Panthers are
off to a fast start
this season with
three victories this
season, the most
recent of which
came Tuesday
night over East
Hall.
Photo by Mark
Beardsley
Resurgent volley Panthers start strong
ByBenMunro
JACKSON COUNTY’S mission this year on
the volleyball court is a winning season and
the first couple days of action has the Panthers
believing.
After winning just four times all of last year,
Jackson County is off to a 3-3 start after splitting
a pair of matches with East Hall and Duluth on
the road Tuesday.
“We are continuing to get better and fix our
mistakes,” coach Crystal Colley said. “I am excit
ed about the season.”
The schedule continues with a pair of matches
against Tallulah Falls. The Panthers face the
Indians at home Thursday at 7 p.m. and on the
road Aug. 26 at a time to be determined.
Jackson County beat East Hall Tuesday in three
sets (19-25, 25-15, 25-15) to move to 1-0 in area
play.
Jackson County lost to Duluth in three sets (15-
25,25-23,12-25).
“The girls continued to have great digs and
kills, yet could not pull together their serve,”
Colley said of the Duluth match. “We lost 10
points just by beating ourselves on the serve. The
girls never gave up and continued to fight for the
win.”
Jasmine Williams led the team in “kills” with
nine, followed by Rahcel Smith (eight) and
Breanna Chapman (six). Smith was the leading
server with four aces and a total of 16 points off
serves. Naly Thao also led the team in assists.
“The entire team did a great job at digging,”
Colley said.
Prior to Tuesday's matches, Jackson County
got off to a 2-2 start after splitting its four matches
Saturday in a multi-team “play date” at East
Jackson.
Jackson County beat Walnut Grove 25-21,
25-14 and Lumpkin County 25-17 and 25-16
while suffering setbacks to Loganville 25-17,
25-21 and George Walton 25-11,25-5.
Among other things, Colley said her team’s
serving percentage improved in the season-open
ing event as opposed to last year. Samantha
Kenneth was the Panthers' top server with 19
points off serves and five aces.
Colley also pointed to the play of Katie Ruddick,
who had 15 kills Saturday.
Colley reiterated her team’s preseason goal of
finishing above the .500 mark and its focus on
achieving that mark.
“Each person has high expectations for this
year and so do I,” Colley said.
Dragons continued from IB
on Jefferson’s next posses
sion, returning it for a 60-yard
touchdown.
The Dragons fumbled the
ball away again early in the
second quarter.
Correcting mistakes will be
the major focus of this week's
practice as the Dragons near
the end of preseason camp.
“We're not going to hang
our heads,” McFerrin said.
“We're going to go back to
practice and work on getting
better.”
There were some bright
spots in Jefferson’s rough
first half. Linebacker Chris
Jackson, who finished with
13 tackles and an intercep
tion, had 10 stops in the first
two quarters, while Wesley
Simonton picked off a pass
in Dragon territory in the first
quarter and returned to the
Lumpkin County 40.
Offensively, the Dragons
made the most of their two
possessions in the overtime
simulation in the second half.
Starting from the Indian 15,
the Dragons got touchdowns
from Cole Givens, who caught
a ball in the end zone that
bounced off tight end Hoytes
Damons' hands, and Jackson,
who scored from three yards
out on the ground.
Jefferson held Lumpkin
County to a field goal in the
overtime segment.
“We played better in the
overtime segment and the
third quarter, but overall, we
didn’t play well,” McFerrin
said.
Though it was a rough
night, the scrimmage will
payoff, McFerrin said.
Jefferson had several new
faces in the lineup Saturday
night who needed the experi
ence.
“It has good for us to be in
a tough scrimmage and have
to overcome some adversity,”
McFerrin said.
The Jackson County Board of Commissioners is
proud to announce the expansion of services at the
Veteran's Information and Referral Office (VIRO)
Who is eligible for to be served? All veterans who have served in United
States Armed Forces.
What services will be provided? The VIRO will assist Veterans with learning
about eligible benefits, applying for benefits, assist with setting up
appointments, and helping resolve problems by providing feedback to the
Veteran's Administration.
Where will the VIRO be located? The new VIRO will be located in the bottom
floor of the Jackson County Administration Building, 67 Athens Street,
Jefferson, Georgia. Parking is available between the Administration Building
and the EMS Center.
When will the office be open? The VIRO will be open on the 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd
Tuesdays of each Month from 10:00 am until 2:00 pm. Volunteers will be ready
to assist any veteran that walks into the office. No appointment is necessary.
How can I get more information? Please call Len Bernat, Jackson County
Purchasing Manager if you need more information on how to obtain assistance
or if you wish to volunteer to work with our veterans. Len can be contacted by
calling (706) 367-1816 or by email at lbernat@jacksoncountygov.com.
The Jackson County Veteran's Information and Referral Office works with the
Veteran's Administration to help them fulfill their mission statement: Our
promise to serve those who have served.
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