By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director
CENTRE – Cherokee County High School volleyball coach Tiffany Rieger describes junior libero Ellisan Givens’ serves “like a knuckle ball, low and flat.”
On Monday in a home tri-match against Class 4A Area 12 opponents White Plains and Anniston, that knuckle ball delivery served Givens well, especially against Anniston in the nightcap.
Givens tied/set three new Alabama High School Athletic Association state volleyball records against Anniston. She tied Horseshoe Bend’s Lily Moss for most points served in a match set (25 twice in sets 1 and 3). Moss set her mark last season against Lafayette.
Givens also established a new record for service aces in a set and service aces in a match. She delivered 21 aces in the first set and 22 in the third set for a total of 43 aces in the match. Givens broke Moss’s record for service aces in a set (19) and Saint James’s Lucy Edwards’ record of 27 service aces in a match. Edwards had 27 service aces in a match against Valley back in 2019.
Playing in their first home matches since their season-openers against Donoho and Sand Rock on Aug. 22, the Lady Warriors swept Anniston by scores of 25-0, 25-3 and 25-0. Cherokee County also swept its opening match on Monday against White Plains 25-22, 25-16 and 25-20 to improve to 24-6 on the season.
“All I thought to do was just keep it in,” Givens said on her serves against Anniston. “We serve all the time in practice. I was just in my zone and got them in. It was fun. Some of them I thought were going in the net, but they didn’t. Like I said, we practice that all the time. It’s just muscle memory.”
“I’ve been around this game for a long time and I’ve never been part of one 25-0 (set), much less two,” Rieger said. “That’s a lot of pressure back there. I know this off-season she’s worked real hard on her serve. When she gets them in, it’s tough to pass. You could tell she was focused and determined. She had her head in the game. Mental toughness is what that took.”
Against Anniston, Ava Haygood, Jolie Alexander and Nevaeh Gaidurgis each posted a kill. Alexander and Gaidurgis also had eight and six aces respectively. Macy Lea dished out a pair of assists. Leila Connell added an ace and a dig. Jesslyn Hincy finished with an ace and Libby Curry finished with a dig.
The White Plains match was much closer for the Lady Warriors. In the first set, Cherokee County built an 18-10 advantage before the Lady Wildcats went on a 9-2 run to pull within a point at 20-19. The Lady Warriors recovered by outscoring White Plains 5-2 down the stretch to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
The second set was similar to the first. The Lady Warriors built a six-point edge before White Plains pulled within three at 19-16. Cherokee County closed out the second set on a 6-0 run to go up 2-0 in the match.
White Plains briefly led in the third set at 16-15 and 17-16, but the Lady Warriors managed to close out the set and the match by going on an 8-3 run.
“I thought there were several times during the match with White Plains where our communication was off,” Rieger said. “We were not running through the ball, running through passes, short tips and stuff like that. There were some things I thought we needed to improve on, but they stuck it out and pulled it off. It’s all about what level of energy you’re bringing to your side of the floor, no matter who’s on the other side.”
Haygood led the Lady Warriors against White Plains with 13 kills. She also had five digs and three aces. Gaidurgis gained nine kills, five digs and an assist. Curry came away with eight kills, a dig and an assist. Raegan Garmany added six kills and an assist. Lea collected 31 assists, four kills, four digs and a pair of aces. Lilly Shaw managed four kills and a dig. Givens finished with 14 digs six assist and a kill.
Cherokee County is scheduled to play at Plainview with Geraldine on Tuesday.