BY CLIFF SMELLEY
A Union County High School volleyball team that defeated the state’s second-ranked Rural Class team twice and pushed the number-one team to tiebreaker set in the regional finals returns the bulk of its players, including one of the best in the Rural Class in senior Jailyn Simmons.
So, will 2025 be a special season? That remains to be seen, but the Tigers have players who are experienced and battle tested.
Simmons, a middle hitter, was Union’s top attacker last year with a team-high 325 kills, which also ranked her third in all of the Rural Class. She was also a force defensively, leading the team and the Rural Class in blocks with 96.
Layla Barber, who was second in kills last year, graduated, but the Tigers return senior outside hitter Indi Knox and sophomore middle hitter/outside hitter Morgan Smith. Knox was third on the team in kills in 2024 with 193, while Smith ranked fourth with 177. Smith was also second in blocks with 43.
Union had two players setting up its attackers last season. Assists leader Kamryn Southerland graduated, but Abby Williams returns. Williams, a senior, recorded 291 assists last season.
Senior defensive specialist Bella Johns returns after recording a team-high 418 digs. That total ranked her second in the Rural Class.
Knox had 304 digs last year, which was second on the team.
Junior defensive specialist Bayley Staier returns after ranking fourth on the team last season with 163 digs.
Williams and Simmons were sixth and seventh, respectively, in digs in 2024 with 133 and 101.
Simmons led the Tigers in service aces last season with 57. Knox was fourth with 33, while Johns and Williams were fifth and sixth, respectively, with 30 and 28.
Union opened last season with four losses in its first five matches, including getting swept 3-0 by Lafayette.
The Tigers, however, then won 15 of 19 matches, including the first two matches of the District 6 tournament. Union defeated Lafayette, which was ranked second in the state, 3-1 in the semifinal round before losing to top-ranked Branford 3-0 in the championship match.
Union had to face Lafayette in the first round of the regional playoffs and again defeated the Hornets 3-1.
That set up a rematch with Branford for a regional title. Branford didn’t get the sweep this time. Union dropped the first two sets, but then won two in a row to force a fifth set, which Branford finally won by a score of 17-15.
It was the third straight year the Tigers, who finished with a 17-10 record, had advanced to at least a regional-title match.
Branford, which finished as last season’s state runner-up, and Lafayette both bring back experience as well. One of the returners for Branford, which graduated five players, is eighth-grader Lalyn Sikes, who was second on the team in kills and third in digs. Lafayette, which graduated four, returns seniors Brooke Lamb (first in kills, second in digs, third in blocks) and Ella McAdams (first in digs) and juniors Sophia Kendrick (first in blocks, third in kills) and Havyn Richardson (second in kills, third in digs).
