BARBOURVILLE — Williamsburg made history on Saturday by capturing the volleyball program’s first-ever 13th Region All ‘A’ Classic championship by defeating Jackson County in the championship game 23-25, 25-23, 25-12.
The 7-3 Lady Jackets reeled off three straight wins on Saturday to capture the championship — defeating Lynn Camp 25-4, 25-8 and Pineville 25-22, 25-11 in the first two rounds.
“This is a great accomplishment for our team. It’s was an amazing team effort all day,” Williamsburg coach Dirk Berta said. “This is huge for our program. Being All ‘A’ region champion is something we shoot for every season. We thought we had a great opportunity to win the All ‘A’ championship this season and credit to all of our players for pushing to accomplish this.”
Berta also mentioned his team’s championship run was a testament to hard work paying off.
“This is our program’s first-ever All ‘A’ championship. Since our inaugural season in 2017, this has been a goal of ours,” he said. “To win it in our fifth season is a huge momentum builder for our program. It’s a testament to the ones who played before this and their hard work and dedication to continue to build the program.”
Williamsburg’s run isn’t finished, according to Berta. The Lady Jackets are now focused on making a run in the All ‘A’ Classic State Tournament.
“I do like our team’s chances at state,” Berka said. “We will see teams that we have never played before. If we continue playing together, we should make a run and get to play in the championship bracket Saturday.”
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Harlan lost a hard-fought 24-26, 25-21, 25-18 battle against Red Bird in the first round of the 13th Region All “A” Classic.
Emma Owens led the Lady Dragons with 28 digs, two service aces, three assists and one kill. Marissa Marlowe had 16 digs, two aces, seven assists, one block and two kills. Campbell Nunez added 15 digs and six assists, Carley Thomas had 13 digs, 14 assists, nine aces and one kill. Mallory McNiel contributed 11 digs, one ace, two assists and two blocks. Annie Hoskins added nine digs, five assists and four blocks. Tess Bryson had five digs and three kills. Ella Farley and Bailee Maples each added two digs and one assist. Doneisha Harriston added two digs.
Harlan lost 25-15. 25-15, 25-20 at Bell County on Monday. Owens led the Lady Dragons with five assists, two digs, one ace and one block. Marlowe added three aces, one dig, two assists and two kills. McNiel had three aces, one dig and two assists. Maples added two aces, three digs and three assists. Hoskins had three kills, one block, one assist and one ace. Farley added two digs and one assist. Tess Bryson added two digs. Ava Nunez had one assist.
The 4-4 Lady Dragons play host to Perry Central on Thursday.