VGCC Women’s Volleyball team gets first conference wins of season
The Vance-Granville Community College women’s volleyball team recently swept a doubleheader against a Region X conference foe at home, bringing the Vanguards’ overall record this season to 6-3.
The VGCC wins over Wytheville (Va.) Community College at Aycock Recreation Center in Henderson on Friday, Sept. 18, were not only the team’s first conference wins of this season, but also the first in four years.
The first match against WCC began with the Vanguards dropping the first two sets to the visiting squad by scores of 25-21 and 25-17. But VGCC came back with a strong performance in the next three consecutive sets (25-16, 25-23 and 15-5) to win the match, 3-2. In the second match, VGCC continued to dominate at the net with kills and blocking, knocking out the Wildcats in three sets (25-18, 25-11 and 25-19).
The wins at home came after two conference losses. On Sept. 8, the Sandhills Community College Flyers defeated the Vanguards in Henderson, 3-0 (25-13, 25-14 and 25-23). On Sept. 15, VGCC fell to the Davidson County Community College Storm in Lexington, 3-0 (25-21, 25-10 and 25-19).
“After a few strong days of practice and making some changes to our offense and defense, we came out, stuck to the game plan and gave a great effort,” said VGCC Coach Christopher Young. “Kara Reese, Melissa Elliott, Rachel Thomas and Jesse Edwards dominated the stats for the Vanguards, but Morgan Carter, Caitlyn Robins and Avery Allen also turned in great defensive performances.”
Reese, of Henderson, led her team in kills in both matches (with 18 and 16, respectively). Elliott, of Townsville, contributed an astounding 33 assists in each match. Edwards, of Henderson, posted 13 kills in the first match and ten in the second, and led in blocks (13) in the first. Reese had the most blocks (eight) in the second match. Thomas, of Louisburg, was the leader in digs in the first match, with 12. She, Edwards and Reese each had eight digs in the second match. Robins, of Creedmoor, was the Vanguards’ leader in aces, with five in each set.
“I am very proud of how hard the players worked in practice on Wednesday and Thursday leading up to Friday’s game,” Coach Young said. “They put in a lot of time on covering tips and working on the offensive attack. This hard work over the week was instrumental in our victories on Friday.”
Above: The Vanguards’ Melissa Elliott made a total of 66 assists during a doubleheader versus Wytheville Community College. (VGCC photo)
See also: VGCC Women's Volleyball Schedule
