It's a crucial time of the season for the varsity Lady Yellow Jacket volleyball team. Over the past week Hayesville has transitioned from regular to post-season play. The Lady Jackets finished their regular season in The Hive with a 2-0 win over Cherokee Thursday, Oct. 17. On Monday, Oct. 21, the Lady Jackets faced off with Swain County in the first round of the Smoky Mountain Conference which was held in Murphy. After an epic battle, Hayesville earned a 2-0 win which set up a semi-final match against Robbinsville Tuesday, Oct. 22. The Lady Knights entered the match ranked fourth in the state and proved too much for Hayesville, winning 2-0 and eliminating the Lady Jackets from the tournament.
In their regular season finale, the Lady Jackets put on a clinic against Cherokee. The Lady Jackets set the tone for the night with a 25-10 win in the first set. The Lady Braves put up their best performance in set two but they were still no match for the home team as Hayesville took a 2-0 lead with a 25-18 set-victory. The third set went by quickly as a 25-11 score gave the Lady Jackets the match win.
To open the SMC tournament, Hayesville faced off with the Lady Maroon Devils of Swain. Prior to the match, Hayesville head coach Tammy Dills expressed a bit of concern, saying, "I feel like we match up better with other teams in the tournament but we will give it our best." As the match developed, it was clear her team was indeed giving it their best. Instead of the best of five format that is used in the regular season, tournament play is the best of three except for the final round. That made the opening set even more vital than usual and both teams verified that with the way they played. Bodies flew in every direction as players were desperate to keep a volley going. The evenly-matched squads battled back and forth and got to 25, forcing extra play. Having to win by 2 points, the Lady Jackets controlled two volleys in a row to get the 27-25 win. Given the epic battle that was set one, no one was surprised that the second set was more of the same. As the set played out, Hayesville started to inch away from Swain County and eventually prevailed with a 25-20 win and advanced to round two.
In that second round, the Lady Jackets matched up with SMC regular season co-champion Robbinsville. The Lady Knights appeared confident as the match got underway and that translated into a quick scoring storm that buried Hayesville's hopes early. Robbinsville took the first set 25-13. In the second set, the Lady Jackets were able to find a bit of rhythm and matched Robbinsville point for point early on. Eventually though, the Lady Knights grabbed the momentum bull by the horns and never looked back, cruising to a 25-15 win which ended Hayesville's tournament run.
Robbinsville's went on to play Murphy in the final round. The Lady Black Knights swept the host team 3-0 to win the tournament.
As for the Lady Jackets, they will make the trip to a familiar place as they face Rosman in the first round of the state playoffs Saturday, Oct. 24 at 2 p.m.