Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2B
THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2017
Opinion
Volleyball
College football
Week 7 picks
By Clark Buffington
Washington State vs. California 45-28
Miami vs. Georgia Tech 28-21
UGA vs. Missouri 42-10
Oklahoma vs. Texas 35-20
Ohio State vs. Nebraska 56-17
Oklahoma State vs. Baylor 48-13
San Diego State vs. Boise State 42-38
Memphis vs. Navy 38-31
TCU vs Kansas State 31-21
North Carolina State vs. Pittsburgh 45-24
Washington vs. Arizona State 56-31
Troy vs. South Alabama 35-7
Last week: 8-4
Overall: 50-21
POLITICAL COMMENT:
Sports is in some ways the backbone of America. It’s
something that brings us together.
But what about those NFL and other sports teams who
take a knee during the national anthem?
The players, many of whom are black, say the move is
about racial inequality in the nation, especially involving the
legal and justice system. Others view the action as a stunt
or an act that shows disrespect for the country and its flag.
Whether you stand for the flag and pay tribute to the men
and women in uniform, or kneel as a sign of protest to injus
tice, it looks like this will be a long road ahead.
Maybe sports doesn’t bring us together as much as we
thought.
Clark Buffington is a photographer for MainStreet News
papers
FORMER DRAGON OPENS FOR RUCKER
Former Jefferson football player Kyle Clark (left),
now a country music singer and songwriter,
recently opened for Darius Rucker at Verizon
Amphitheater. Submitted photo
Eagles play best volleyball ‘hands
down’ at area tourney says coach
PLAYING THE BALL
East Jackson’s Sydney Mathis taps the ball in
the Eagles’ area tournament loss to Jackson
County on Saturday. Photo by Ben Munro
By Ben Munro
The East Jackson vol
leyball team didn’t win
an area title but did not
disappoint its coach with
its performance.
The Eagles (24-13)
finished as 8-AAA run
ners-up. beating Morgan
County (22-25. 25-17.
25-23. 26-24) in the
semifinals before losing
to rival Jackson County
(25-18, 25-17, 25-19) in
the finals.
“Our girls played their
best game, hands down,”
head coach Kortney
Kurtz said. “It was a lot
of volleyball to be played
and they hung in there.”
East Jackson will host
Lakeview-Ft. Oglethorpe
today (Wednesday) at 5
p.m. in the first round of
the state tournament.
Sydney Mathis was
East Jackson’s top hit
ter in the area tourna
ment with 37 kills, while
Desiree Green finished
with 62 assists. Erica
Tyson totaled 21 digs,
while Victoria Palmer
had 18 digs and 14 kills.
East Jackson beat Mor
gan County in four sets
in the opener, rallying to
win the last three after
dropping the first.
“Our games against
Morgan County made me
so proud of them.” Kurtz
said. “They lost their first
game, but came out ready
to fight for the next three.
Morgan County made
some big changes with
their outside hitter, rota
tion wise, but our girls
were able to adapt and
pull out the win.”
In the finals against
Jackson County, Kurtz
said her team simply ran
into a great player in right
side hitter Jessica Steuer,
who was named the Area
Player of the Year.
“I have to give their
right-side hitter big
kudos,” she said. “She
is a phenomenal player
who can read the court
very well. We adjusted
any and every way pos
sible, changing up where
Sydney Mathis played to
block, pulling our out
side blocker off to cover
tips, pulling our left back
off the line to dig her
hard-driven hit.”
Kurtz said her team ran
out of time against the
Panthers (31-11).
“The game ended
before we could mas
ter our adjustments and
make them effective,” she
said.
Kurtz said taking sec
ond in the area “comes
with so many overwhelm
ing feelings.”
“I am beyond proud
of where we started and
where we are today,” she
said. The girls still have
a lot to learn, but day by
day they are adding more
tools to their tool box to
be able to use.”
The coach added that
she is confident that this
team can advance far in
the area tournament.
“I want my seniors
to be given everything
they deserve, so it comes
down to making every
single ball count,” she
said. “The girls are going
to feel the pressure start
ing on Wednesday, and I
hope they put those emo
tions from that pressure
into their play and watch
a positive outcome unrav
el.”
ALL-AREA
SELECTIONS
East Jackson had three
players make the all-ar
ea team. Mathis earned
first team all-area honors.
Green and Palmer were
second-team selections.
MATHIS HONORED
The American Volley
ball Coaches Association
named Sydney Mathis
as the top athlete in the
state. Only one athlete
is selected per state each
week.
Volleyball
• •• continued from Page IB
the deciding point by tapping
the ball over the net to an
empty spot on the floor.
“Winning the first set was
huge,” Fowler said. “But we
knew coming out the second
and third set that they’re a real
ly good team. They’ve been a
good team for a long time, and
they compete.”
Riding the momentum
of the first-set win, Jackson
County built up a 20-11 lead in
the second set and won 25-17.
The Panthers nailed 10-8 in
the third set, but a point at
the net from Anslee Stephens
ignited a 7-0 run that included
kills from Megan Milian and
Gia Moua and a pair of aces
from Jenny Moua. East Jack-
son cut Jackson County’s lead
to 16-15 but never regained the
lead as the Panthers took the
third set 25-19.
“My hat’s off to them and
their program,” Fowler said
of East Jackson. “They’ve got
a great group of kids. They’re
well-coached. They definite
ly made a lot of adjustments
since the last time we played
them.”
PLAYER OF
THE YEAR
Jackson County’s
Jessica Streuer was
named the Area 8-AAA
Player of the Year
following the area
finals on Saturday.
Photo by Ben Munro
East Jackson coach Kortney
Kurtz said her team’s game
plan centered around trying to
slow Streuer, who was named
the Area 8-AAA Player of the
Year.
“The biggest thing for us
was trying to shutdown Jes
sica (Streuer),” Kurtz said.
“She plays right side hitter,
so the biggest changes we had
to make was how to stop her.
By the third game we had
changed up our lineup to put
Sydney Mathis matched up
with her, but she’s just phe
nomenal. She runs their team.
She has great hands and a
great swing.”
Fowler, who picked up his
50 th win at Jackson County
and was named 8-AAA Coach
of the year, credited a strong
week of practice, and a lot of
motivation in his team’s title
run.
“They’ve been wanting
this a long time — the first
time in 21 years,” Fowler said.
“Especially for these seniors.
They’ve been through the ups
and downs here. It was great
overall.”
Fowler added that assistant
coach Sarah Fowler, who’s
also his wife, “did a great job
with the X’s and O’s, constant
ly moving pieces.”
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The championship marks a
quick turnaround for the for
tunes of the volleyball pro
gram.
Fowler inherited a team that
only won live matches in 2015
when he took over last year
and has delivered an area title
in only his second year. The
coach said he’s proud of what
the players have accomplished
in such a short time.
“It’s very satisfying,” Fowl
er said. “A lot of the girls, they
were in tears. I got a little bit
emotional. My wife was emo
tional. Last year, we had talent.
We had girls that worked hard.
When you have girls that will
work hard, just about anything
is possible.”
By virtue of their area
championship, the Panthers, as
the top seed out of the area,
will host their first-round state
tournament matchup. Should
they win, they play at home in
the second round as well.
“We’re so excited to be
able to host state,” Steuer said.
“That’s a big thing for us.
We’re excited to get our crowd
out here and have a good home
advantage. We’re super look
ing forward to the future, and
hopefully great things are to
come for us. I think they are.”
Roland, a fellow senior,
expressed similar feelings.
“Being a senior, it’s great
because I feel like a leader
on this team, so I get to lead
everybody in my last year, and
so we get to host things here.
So it feels great.”
Streuer, a senior transfer
into the program, said this has
been a season to remember.
‘This is like a dream come
true for all of us,” she said.
“It’s awesome to be able to
say we went undefeated in
region and were able to win
the region tournament ... It’s
just been a blast. These girls
have become like my family,
even though I haven’t even
been here a whole year. But
I know that we’re going to
be lifelong friends and we’re
always going to remember this
moment.”
ALL-AREA
In addition to Streuer being
named Player of the Year and
Fowler being named Coach of
the Year, Roland, Jenny Moua
and Alanna Dorsey were
named to the 8-AAA All-Area
team.
Stats vs. Hart County
•Kills: Jessica Streuer 9, Gia
Moua 7, Alanna Dorsey 5, Megan
Milian 4,
Taylor Roland 4
•Assists: Jessica Streuer 12,
Alanna Dorsey 11
•Aces: Jessica Streuer 7, Megan
Milian 4, Taylor Roland 3, Alanna
Dorsey 2, Jenny Moua 1
•Digs: Jenny Moua 18, Jessica
Streuer 12, Kylee Zimmer 7, Tori Gar
rett 7, Gia Moua 6, Alanna Dorsey
5, Taylor Roland 4, Megan Milian 3
Stats vs East Jackson
•Kills: Jessica Streuer 19, Alan
na Dorsey 5, Taylor Roland 5, Gia
Moua 5, Megan Milian 2, Ansley
Robinson 2
•Assists: Alanna Dorsey 17, Jes
sica Streuer 11
•Aces: Jessica Streuer 2, Jenny
Moua 2
•Digs: Jenny Moua 19, Gia
Moua 16, Jessica Streuer 14, Taylor
Roland 9, Anslee Stephens 8, Alanna
Dorsey 6, Kylee Zimmer 5, Megan
Milian 5, Tori Garrett 3
Athlete of the Week!
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Sydney Mathis
East Jackson Comprehensive
High School
East Jackson volleyball player Sydney
Mathis was named the top athlete in
Georgia by the American Volleyball
Coaches Association last week.
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