THOMASVILLE – Thomasville secured its spot in the second round of the state volleyball tournament after sweeping the Lady Eagles of Mitchell County. It was behind some truly stellar serving that the Lady Bulldogs were able to secure a 3-0 victory.

“We are so excited,” said head coach Jackie King. “ We are excited to continue going and going forward. I feel like everyone as a team worked really well. The game gave us an opportunity for everyone to play, fulfill roles that they had, and just to cheer each other on and be there for each other. It was just a really great experience as a team.”

Thomasville was very good, though they did have a few miscues, in the match. They gave up just 13, 12, and 13 points in each of their three set wins respectively and, while Mitchell did make it close at times, the Lady Bulldogs never felt threatened. Thomasville was excellent in the attack all night, with Hannah Hawkins leading the Lady Bulldogs with six assists and Olivia Barnes leading the team with three kills. 

However, it was the Lady Bulldogs’ phenomenal serving that really propelled them past the Lady Eagles. Thomasville had four players with four or more aces, Adalee King had six and Kennedy Brooks had a team-leading eight aces on the night.

“I’ve got some very strong servers and I’ve continued to reinforce day after day that we do not want to give free points and a missed serve is a free point every time,” said King. She went on to talk about the Lady Bulldogs’ goal of missing very few serves per match.

Now, the Lady Bulldogs will move on to round two, which they will host on Saturday, October 19 against Pepperell. The Lady Dragons are coming off their own first-round sweep of Woodville-Tompkins. The Player that Thomasville really needs to watch out for is Hannah Smith. The Pepperell junior leads the Lady Dragons with an average of 1.1 aces per set, 351 digs on the season, and 239 kills.

“We’re super excited,” King said about Saturday’s round two match. “I think just the excitement of everyone is contagious. We’re all feeling it.”

Thomasville will be back in action at home on Saturday for their second-round match-up against Pepperrell.