BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Union County High School’s volleyball team seems to have shaken off its slow start, having now won its third match in a row with a 3-0 (25-20, 26-24, 25- 19) defeat of Class 3A Keystone Heights on Sept. 9 in Lake Butler.
The Rural-classification Tigers (4-4) got three kills early in the first set from Indi Knox in building a 10-5 lead. They then scored five straight points with Kamryn Southerland serving, getting two aces from Southerland and two kills from Layla Barber.
A couple of aces from Kadence Massey and a kill by Mya Jennings helped the Indians (2-6) prevent their deficit from getting larger than seven points. Keystone the scored three points with Kennedie Carlton serving to make it a 21-18 game. The brief run included a Massey kill off a Kaleigh Marquart assist and a block by Mia Rivera.
Union got kills from Knox and De’ashia Gainer to take a 24-20 lead before scoring the set-winning point on a Keystone error.
Neither team had more than a two-point lead in the second set. It was 23-21 in favor of Keystone, with the Indians having gotten three kills from Rivera to that point, while Union had four kills from Barber. The Indians held serve two points away from winning the set, but a Knox kill off a Southerland assist forced side-out.
Another Knox kill with the Tigers’ Bella Johns serving tied it at 23-23. A Massey kill forced side-out for Keystone.
The Indians now needed one point for the win, but didn’t get it, with Simmons recording a kill for Union. That tied the score at 24-24 and gave the serve to the Tigers’ Knox. An error put Union up 25-24 before a Simmons kill off a Southerland assist resulted in the 26-24 win.
Keystone got an early service ace from Marquart and scored six of the first eight points of the third set. Two kills by Simmons and one by Barber helped the Tigers rally and take a 10-7 lead.
The Tigers began slowly pulling away despite the Indians getting two kills each from Rivera and Riley Shuford. It was 19-14 in favor of Union when Keystone got an ace from Jennings. A block by Union’s Morgan Smith helped force an eventual side-out, giving the Tigers a 20-15 lead.
Neither team could put much of a run together, with the Tigers getting a block and a kill from Smith and the Indians getting kills from Rivera and Shuford.
Union was serving with a 23-17 lead when Keystone’s Emma Stanley had a kill. Marquart then recorded an ace to pull the Indians to within 23-19, but Keystone’s sixth service error of the set resulted in side-out.
With a 24-19 lead and Knox serving, the Tigers closed out the sweep with a Barber kill off an Abigail Williams assist.
Williams finished with 17 assists, while Southerland had 10.
Barber and Simmons led Union in kills with 10 each, while Knox added eight. Simmons also had four blocks, while Smith led the team with five.
Bella Johns had 15 digs for the Tigers, who also got 11 from Knox, seven from Bayley Staier and six from Southerland.
Keystone plays at Bradford on Tuesday, Sept. 10, at 7 p.m., with the junior varsity teams playing at 6 p.m.
The Tigers travel to play undefeated Class 4A Baker County on Thursday, Sept. 12, at 6:30 p.m., following a JV match at 5:30 p.m.
Union and Keystone both play in the Wawa Jacksonville Juniors Volleyball Association River City Classic on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 13-14.
The Tigers host Branford on Monday, Sept. 16, at 6:30 p.m., with the JV teams playing at 5:30 p.m.
On Tuesday, Sept. 17, Keystone hosts Union, with the JV teams playing at 6 p.m. and the varsity teams playing at 7 p.m.
