Starr’s Mill, the top-ranked team in Class AAAA, raised its record to 21-1 last weekend, defeating four teams, including three that are ranked: Chattahoochee, ranked eight in AAAAA, 25-21, 25-19; St. Pius, ranked third in AAAA, 27-25, 25-21; unranked Decatur 25-12, 25-14; and South Forsyth, ranked seventh in in AAAAA, 25-20, 25-21.

Mary Chaudoin (55 assists, nine service aces, 29 digs, three blocks); Alexis Shaffer (21 kills, three service aces, 11 digs, six blocks); Angela Jubb (14 kills, three service aces, 13 digs, four and a half blocks); Hayley Faith (13 kills, one service ace, 25 digs); Chrissy Culp (13 assists, three service aces, 14 digs); Diana Dazey (30 digs); Jalee Walters (six kills, two service aces, 12 digs, one and a half blocks) and Jen Crotty (four kills) stood out for Starr’s Mill.

In what turned out to be two of the most thrilling games ever played in Sandy Creek memory, the Patriots bumped, set, spiked, blocked, dug and served their way to win both games, much to the dismay of Marist and Westminster.

“We pulled everything together when it mattered,” said senior outside hitter and co-captain Olympia Haney. “We just weren’t going down. We know what we are capable of when we play together and everything just went right for us.”

It was Marist who fell first in three matches (25-20, 27-25, 25-22) as Creek posted 39 total kills (Haney: nine, Ruple: eight, Davenport and Dunn: seven each, Smith: six, Belyeu: two) and 53 digs (Haumann: 15, Haney: 13, Dunn: 11, Belyeu: seven, Smith: four, and Ruple: three).
“Nothing was hitting the floor on our side,” said Ruple.

Belyeu posted 33 assists, and Davenport and Smith each had one assist. Dunn blocked 2-1/2 times, Ruple posted 1-1/2 blocks and Davenport and Smith shared a block. Sandy Creek served well, too. Belyeu led the team with 14 serves, including two aces. Ruple had 12 serves. Dunn had 10 serves with one ace. Smith offered 10 serves, Haney five and Haumann three.

Still reeling from the excitement of taking down the AAAA state champs in a fight to the end, Sandy Creek stood face to face against Westminster, another state champion team. Once again, the win went to Sandy Creek (25-23, 12-25, 25-20), which, according to Collins, basically did nothing wrong.

“We looked so determined and played everything so well,” said Collins. “They know how talented they are and they have been chomping at the bit to prove it to teams like these. They executed everything beautifully and never gave up. It was very exciting – a coach’s dream game.”

Belyeu offered 26 assists to her hitters, who took advantage. Ruple led the game in kills with 10, Dunn posted nine. Haney offered eight kills, Smith had six, Davenport three, and Belyeu one. Haumann led the team in digs with 15; Haney had 13; Belyeu and Dunn each had seven, Ruple had five and Smith had four digs. Haney had two blocks and Davenport offered 1-1/2.

Once again, Belyeu led the team in serving with 16 total serves, three of them aces. Dunn had 14 serves with two aces. Haumann had six serves with two aces. Smith had seven serves and Haney posted six.

Sandy Creek will make their first appearance at the very prestigious and invitation-only tournament, the Lovett Block Party, being held Friday and Saturday at the Marist School.
Home games are scheduled on Tuesday, September 18 starting at 5:30 p.m. vs. Central Carroll and Villa Rica.

In other recent volleyball action, McIntosh defeated Lassiter (26-24, 25-21) and St. Pius (25-19, 30-28). Landmark Christian defeated Greater Atlanta Christian (25-21, 26-24) and lost to Wesleyan (25-22, 25-13).

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