Fayetteville’s Hannah Wiederhold rises for a kill in the Lady Rockets’ win over Ripley at this year’s Southern Hills Athletic Conference Volleyball Preview on Aug. 11.

By Wade Linville – 

The start of a new high school volleyball season is officially underway for Brown County schools. Just prior to the start of the new season, the Southern Hills Athletic Conference held its annual volleyball preview on Friday, Aug. 11. This year’s SHAC Volleyball Preview was held at North Adams High School with a large crowd of spectators on hand.
Starting off the action was the Eastern Lady Warriors of SHAC Division I taking the court to face the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats of SHAC Division II.
The Lady Warriors, headed by coach Kayla Crites.
The Lady Warriors dominated in both sets, taking a 21-11 win over the Wildcats in set one and cruising to a 21-4 win in set two.
A kill by Eastern junior Alexa Pennington lifted the Lady Warriors to a 19-4 lead in set two, en route to their 17-point victory.
With a skilled and experienced crew on the return, expect the Lady Warriors to once again be among the top in SHAC standings this fall.
The second match of the day saw the Fayetteville-Perry Lady Rockets of SHAC Division II take the court to face the Ripley-Union-Lewis-Huntington Lady Jays of SHAC Division I.
The Lady Rockets are once again headed by long-time coach Sharon Sheets, while Kirsten Grant is back for her second year as head volleyball coach of the Lady Jays.
The Lady Jays started off strong, rising to a 5-1 lead over the Lady Rockets in set one. But the Lady Rockets rallied back to tie the game at six apiece and would eventually rise to a 15-11 lead after a kill by Fayetteville’s Hannah Wiederhold.
The Lady Jays, showing much improvement from last season, remained close in set one, managing to cut the Fayetteville lead to 16-13. But it was the Lady Rockets taking a 21-16 win in set one that was capped off with a kill by Lexi Estes.
Set two between the Lady Rockets and Lady Jays started out close, but the skilled Fayetteville squad heated up late to claim a 21-7 victory.
In other SHAC preview action: the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs defeated the Peebles Lady Indians 21-18 in set one, but it was the Lady Indians winning set two by a score of 21-15.
The North Adams High School junior varsity team suffered 21-16 and 21-17 losses to the Fairfield Lady Lions.
The North Adams Lady Green Devils, last year’s SHAC champions, cruised to 21-9 and 21-5 victories over the Manchester Lady Greyhounds.