The Washington Lady Blue Lions volleyball team hosted Jackson for the first time as members of the new Frontier Athletic Conference Tuesday evening.
Washington won the match, three sets to two.
Scores of the match were: 17-25, 25-19, 25-20, 21-25 and 15-9.
In the deciding set, the points were going back and forth fairly evenly in the early stages.
Washington led 9-6 and 10-7.
Jackson twice more pulled to within two points, but Rayana Burns served out the set, with a key block by Faith Kobel for the 14th point and an ace serve from Burns for match point.
“We did not know what Jackson was going to bring,” Washington head coach Ashley DeAtley said. “We saw them a couple of years ago and they were a very scrappy team, just a team that doesn’t ever give up on the ball.
“Knowing that, we knew that we had to be determined to fight point after point,” DeAtley said. “I thought that tonight was the first night that we really saw that from all of our girls. It was really good for us, overall, to play as a team (until the end) of every point.
“I was so proud of my girls for fighting back,” DeAtley said. “We had an injury and people stepped up and did their jobs.
“Rayana Burns was on fire tonight,” DeAtley said. “Hitting, blocking, serving — she missed a couple, but she got back in. She’s a great athlete.
“Delaney Greer was another key player for us in the back row,” DeAtley said. “She was not willing to let the ball hit the floor. I thought that was excellent leadership from our senior captain.
“Hannah Haithcock did a nice job in the front row of knowing where she needed to hit at all times,” DeAtley said. “It was a great win tonight for us on our home court.”
Serving for Washington, Hannah Haithcock was 22 of 24 with one ace serve and Maddy Jenkins was 14 of 17 with one ace serve.
In kills, Rayana Burns was 12 of 31; Haithcock was 12 of 26 and Faith Kobel had six kills out of 17 attempts.
Kobel had three solo blocks, Halli Wall had one, Burns had seven block assists and Trinity Ragland had two block assists.
Haithcock had 20 digs, Delaney Greer had 16, Tabby Woods had 15 and Jenkins added 12.
In setting, Wall was 68 of 72 with 25 assists and Ragland was 8 of 8 with one assist.
Washington is now 2-1 in the Frontier Athletic Conference and 4-5 overall.
Washington will play at McClain Thursday. The j-v match starts at an earlier than normal time of 4:30 p.m., followed by the varsity.
In the j-v match Tuesday, Washington defeated Jackson, 25-23 and 25-21.
Washington is now 3-0 in the FAC, 5-1 overall.
Statistically for Washington: serving, Brittney Wilson was 5 of 6 with 5 aces; Mallory Hicks was 6 of 9 with 3 aces and Emma Funari was 9 of 10 with one ace.
Attacks: Wilson, 6 of 7 with 6 kills; Mackenzie Truex, 4 of 6, 1 kill and Ashlynn Thevenot, 2 of 3, 2 kills.
Passing: Wilson, 15 of 16; Emily Semler, 14 of 20; Hicks, 8 of 12.
Setting: Funari, 17 of 17 with 13 assists; Hicks, 2 of 2.
