The volleyball squads from Hayesville High School returned from the Christmas break in a big way. On Tuesday, Dec. 29 the varsity Lady Yellow Jackets crossed the border into Cherokee County to take on the Lady Wildcats of Andrews. Thanks to a rally, Hayesville came away with a 3-2 victory. In a rare Saturday event, both HHS teams headed to Cherokee on Jan. 2. The JV team got a quick 2-0 win, but varsity again found themselves having to claw their way back to get a nail-biting 3-2 victory.
In Andrews, the varsity Lady Jackets faced a totally different team than the one they faced when they hosted the Lady Wildcats. The players were the same, but Andrews’ attitude was different. The Lady Wildcats’ intensity helped them jump out to an early advantage with a 25-20 win in the first set.
Set two was a back-and-forth affair that saw the drama grow with each point. The Lady Wildcats managed to go up 2-0 with a 25-23 set win.
Facing defeat, Hayesville battled back in the third set with a lopsided 25-14 win and followed that up with a 25-17 victory set four.
The fifth and deciding set did not start out good for the Lady Jackets. Down 14-10 and with Andrews just 1 point from victory Hayesville began to rally. The Lady Jackets scored which awarded them the serve. Senior Maggie Plemmons stepped to the serving line. Hayesville made the most of Plemmons’ serves, scoring 5 straight points to get the 16-14 set win and the 3-2 match victory.
In Cherokee, the JV teams got the high school portion of the event going on Saturday. The Lady Jackets quickly established themselves as the favorite with a 25-11 win in the opening set. Cherokee put up more of a fight in the second set, but it was in vain as Hayesville picked up a 25-18 victory. The 2-0 match win secured the Lady Jackets’ spot on top of the Smoky Mountain Conference standings.
For the varsity matchup, the Lady Braves gave Hayesville fans that “here we go again” feeling with a 25-19 win in set one followed by besting the Lady Jackets 25-23 in set two.
Refusing to give up, Hayesville found their footing in the third set and held off a match defeat with a 25-12 set win. The fourth set was all black and Vegas gold as the Lady Jackets got the 10 point, 25-15 victory which forced a fifth set.
It was close and each team had flashes of momentum, but ultimately Hayesville was able to grab the 15-12 victory which gave them the 3-2 match win.
The HHS volleyball teams will wrap up the regular season Thursday, Jan. 7 on the road against Swain County. Fans can see the matches starting at 5 p.m. on the “Clay County Schools” YouTube channel.