West Marion got revenge and its first district win of the year at Columbia Tuesday night on the Wildcats’ home volleyball court.
Columbia, who beat West Marion 2-1 in the Columbia Classic Aug. 10, topped the Trojans in the first set 27-25 on a controversial call on the set point, but the Trojans used it as motivation to take the next three sets to win the match 3-1.
Atayviah Williams was the star for the Trojans (4-8, 1-2), leading the team in both kills and aces with eight each. Lainey Brumfield added 10 digs, six kills and five aces, and Avery Holmes had 17 assists and five aces.
The victory for the Trojans came on the heels of a 3-1 loss Monday at Salem, and head coach Todd Pittman said beating Columbia was the first time West Marion put it all together.
“We played pretty well throughout the whole match,” he said. “We finally put some things together. We probably could’ve, should’ve, would’ve beat Salem Monday night. The same thing happened to us against Salem that happened to us against East Marion last week. We had a couple of close sets late in the game and just couldn’t ever close them out. We finally rebounded and did it against Columbia.”
Pittman said he’s hoping the win over Columbia will be a turning point for the Trojans and get them right back in the thick of things in Region 7.
“Everybody has kind of beat each other, and now it’s just about playing like we’re capable of playing and seeing what happens in the second round of games,” he said.
The Trojans hosted Sumrall Thursday night, but results were unavailable at press time. They will travel to Jeff Davis County Tuesday and host Amite County Thursday in a pair of district contests.
Pittman said the Trojans need to continue to play like they did this week moving forward.
“We just have to keep playing consistently just like we did against Columbia Tuesday and at times against Salem Monday. Playing consistent, getting our defense right and getting those balls up to set up our offense are the things we need to do. We had 17 kills against Columbia, and that’s what you have to do. You have to be able to put yourself in position to score those points and put points away.”
Columbia (4-8, 1-2), meanwhile, played host to Hazlehurst Thursday (results unavailable) and will stay at home for matches against South Jones Tuesday and Jeff Davis Thursday.
Columbia head coach Scott Fitzgerald could not be reached for comment.
