There’s only one week left in the season, but the West Marion Trojans are playing their best volleyball of the year.
The Trojans (11-12, 7-4) have continued to play dominant volleyball since beating Seminary Sept. 23, which head coach Todd Pittman said was the best they’ve played all year, and have now won four straight.
“It’s a day late and a dollar short, but we’ve played really well,” he said.
In a prevailing home performance Sept. 26, West Marion topped Jeff Davis County 3-1 behind the strong play of Lainey Brumfield, Atayviah Williams and Avery Holmes. Brumfield had a game-high 11 kills, Williams had nine and Holmes had 23 assists and 10 aces.
Pittman said Brumfield is attacking well late in the year, and he wants her to just get a little more consistent with her swing.
“We just want her to be aggressive and consistent with it. Every now and then she’ll hit one out being young. The next two or three swings she’ll take something off of it to try to get the ball in instead of just being aggressive all the time,” he said. “The last couple of weeks she’s come on strong.”
Pittman added Malyssa Johnson has come on strong as well, and he’s expecting her to take over Williams’ spot as one of the main hitters on the squad.
For the first time in program history, West Marion swept Columbia in both district games with its 3-2 home win Monday. The Trojans won the final set in deuce 16-14.
“To beat them for the first time in both district contests, that’s a good accomplishment for our girls and something to build on for next year,” Pittman said. “(Scott Fitzgerald) does a good job at Columbia, and Columbia has been a very good volleyball team and still has a good team this year.”
Williams had a great all-around game with 16 kills, six aces and four blocks, which all led the team. Holmes had a season-high 26 assists as well.
Then on Tuesday the Trojans outscored Amite County 75-15 in a 3-0 sweep behind a 19-ace performance by Kaleigh Stringer.
West Marion played its last district game Thursday at home against Hazlehurst, but results were unavailable at press time. The Trojans will host Seminary and Sacred Heart Thursday and Friday, respectively, in their final games of the year. The match against Sacred Heart is senior night.
Pictured Above: J'Niah Stampley serves against Columbia Monday. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
