Telegraph Staff Writer
It wasn’t the way she wanted to celebrate, but Union County High School senior volleyball player was happy to have surpassed 1,000 kills for her career in the Tigers’ 3-2 (25-18, 18-25, 25-16, 18-25, 15-7) loss to visiting Baker County on Sept. 12.
Davis entered the match needing just 14 kills to reach 1,000.
“As an outside hitter, I’ve really worked hard to try to find open holes on the court and just put the ball down,” she said, adding, “I’m super excited. I’m glad I finally made it.”
Davis, who also has 1,000-plus digs in her career, said it’s hard to believe she’s made that many kills, noting that she’s not the only player who has the ball set for her. She said that’s even more true this season.
“I think our team has done a good job spreading the ball around this year. That’s helped a lot,” Davis said. “I’ve had a lot less swings, but to reach 1,000 kills before my senior year is even close to ending is super exciting.”
Class 4A Baker is the only team to have beaten the 1A Tigers (6-2) this season, having also won a 3-2 mtach on Sept. 6 in Glen St. Mary, despite Union winning the first two sets.
After dropping the first set of the Sept. 12 match, Union scored four straight points with Davis serving to take an 8-4 lead in the second set. Jailyn Simmons and Emily Wilson each had a kill during that span, while a dump by Layla Barber earned the Tigers another point.
Union never trailed in the second set after that, with a Rylie Parrish kill resulting in the winning point.
Baker led from start to finish in the third set. The highlight for the Tigers was scoring five straight points with Simmons serving to make it a 14-12 game. Simmons had an ace during that span, while Parrish had three kills.
The Tigers led 7-6 in the fourth set before scoring four points with Simmons serving. Two kills by Wilson helped Union go up 11-6.
It was a 20-16 game in the fourth set before the Tigers scored four straight points again with Simmons serving. Parrish had a block that helped Union go up 24-16 before they earned the win off a Baker service error.
Baker scored the first six points of the tiebreaker set. There were few bright spots for Union, though they scored three straight points with Davis serving that left them trailing 13-7. Simmons blocked attacks by the Wildcats’ Camryn Chick twice — once for a point and once to keep play alive for an eventual Davis kill.
Union hosts Pierson Taylor tonight (Sept. 13) at 6:30 p.m., following a junior varsity match at 5:30 p.m. The Tigers then play in a tournament hosted by Bell High School. They’ll play Trenton and Lafayette on Friday, Sept. 16, at 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Union will then play Columbia on Saturday, Sept. 17, at 11:30 a.m.
The Tigers travel to play Bradford on Monday, Sept. 19, at 6:30 p.m. before returning home to play Keystone Heights on Tuesday, Sept. 20, at 6:30 p.m. JV matches will be played prior to each match at 5:30 p.m.
