Clover volleyball off to best start in years, plus full Rock Hill area region standings
The Clover volleyball team is off to its best start in several years. The Blue Eagles are currently 6-3 overall and their 2-1 mark in Region 3-5A puts them in a tie for second place.
In non-region play, they have toppled Andrew Jackson, Indian Land and York. They split a pair of matches with Northwestern and lost to Rock Hill. In the region, they have wins over Fort Mill and Gaffney and a loss to Boiling Springs in their third region outing.
Danielle Randolph is in her first year as the head coach for the Blue Eagles, but she is no stranger to volleyball or the Clover program. She has six years of coaching experience under her belt. She was an assistant coach for the Clover varsity a year ago. Prior to that, she was the head coach in the Clover middle school program.
That gives her an advantage as she assumes command of the varsity program.
“I know the players and they know me. They know what I want,” Randolph told The Herald in a phone interview last week. “I coached several of them when they came through the middle school program.”
The leadership on this year’s team has been one of the keys for the early success. The Blue Eagles’ 13-player roster shows six seniors.
The senior players are Brynn Dickerson, Allison Heeg, Avery Fanning, Kaylynn Sexton, Janelle Blue and Faith Miller.
“We are getting some strong leadership thus far,” she added. “We just need to keep up the positive attitude that we have had thus far.”
The Blue Eagles vary their rotation depending on the opponent and the situation.
“We use eight or nine players during a match,” she said. “We have our set starting lineup, and we can rotate in several players when the situation dictates.”
The early success is very pleasing to Randolph.
“I am very proud of what we have been able to do thus far,” she said. “We are working hard and getting better as we go along. We still have some work to do, but we are getting there.”
Dickerson is the starting setter for the Blue Eagles, while Blue and Julia Waugh have been the top hitters through the first nine matches of the year. The defensive leaders thus far have been Heeg and Fanning.
Randolph feels like the offense has shown tremendous improvement, but needs more work.
“We need to play more consistently on offense,” she added. “We have times when we play great, and then we struggle on offense.”
She has some key players to spark the offense.
“We have two good setters,” she said. “We have several players who can attack. The coordination between our setters and hitters is getting better.“
The defense is also showing tremendous improvement.
“We are working together much better on defense,” she said. “We have some more work to do, but we are improving fundamentally on defense.”
The region is a tough one, and she knows you have to be ready for every match.
“This is a very solid region from top to bottom,” she said. “There are no easy wins. Anybody can win on a given night. That has already been proven. ... When we beat Fort Mill earlier in the year, we played consistently for the entire match. We played together better in that match than any of the others thus far. We need that all the time.”
The key for continued success and making the postseason, which they missed last year with an overall mark of 5-6, is quite simple.
“We need to keep working hard,” she added. “We need to continue playing good defense, and we need to continue improving on offense.”
Clover travels to Nation Ford on Tuesday to finish the first round of region play. They complete the week with a pair of non-region matches. The Blue Eagles host Catawba Ridge on Wednesday and travel to York on Thursday.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE AREA REGIONS
The region schedule is nearing the midway point for most of the regions. It is still a battle for the top spot in each region as several teams are in contention. There are some big matches coming up this week in every region. They will go a long way in deciding not only that top team, but also the positions for the playoffs.
Region 3-5 A
Fort Mill is first at 3-1 in the region and 15-4 overall. Clover and Nation Ford are tied for second. Clover is 2-1 (6-3), while Nation Ford also checks in at 2-1 (13-6). Boiling Springs is 2-2 (12-8), while Gaffney is 0-4 (2-8).
Region 4-5 A
Rock Hill is first at 3-0 in the region and 13-5 overall. Northwestern and Blythewood are tied for second. Northwestern is 2-1 (5-6), and Blythewood is 2-1 (9-6). Spring Valley is 1-3 (3-7), while Ridge View is 0-3 (0-6).
Region 3-4A
Catawba Ridge is 5-0 in region play and 13-6 in all matches. Indian Land is second at 3-2 (6-6), and South Pointe is 2-2 (3-6). York is 1-4 (4-7), and Lancaster is 0-3 (0-6).
Region 4-3A
Mid-Carolina is 4-0 in the region and 6-5 overall. Chester is 2-2 (4-5), while Keenan is 1-2 (3-7). Fairfield Central is 0-1 (1-5), and Lower Richland is 0-2 (0-6).
Region 4-2A
North Central is 7-0 in the region and 17-1 overall. Andrew Jackson is 5-1 (8-5) with Buford 4-3 (6-3). Chesterfield is next at 3-3 (5-4), and York Prep is 3-4 (5-5). Cheraw is 1-5 (1-6), and Central at 0-7 (1-9) completes the region.
Region 2-1A
Lewisville is 3-0 in the region and 7-0 in all matches. McBee is 2-1 (4-4), and Governor’s School is next at 1-1 (1-4). Great Falls is 1-3 (2-6), while CA Johnson is 0-2 (0-7).