By Stephen Dawkins

Jemison played inspired volleyball at times on Thursday but allowed Andalusia to come back twice—once after Jemison had taken a two sets to none lead and again after the hosts led 10-3 in the final set—and lost, 3-2 (16-25, 22-25, 25-16, 25-14, 12-15), in the sub-state round of the playoffs.

Kasi Wells led with 19 assists to go along with six digs, five kills and two blocks.

Morgan Posey recorded a team-high 14 digs, and both Tanya Liveoak and Emily Smithey had five aces.

By Stephen Dawkins

Jemison will face a familiar foe Thursday, and the Panthers hope they’re better suited for the challenge this time.

Just like last year, Andalusia will visit Jemison Thursday for the sub-state round of the volleyball playoffs.

JHS hopes to advance to the Elite 8 state tournament this year based on an increased presence in the middle of the court, which coach Leighsa Robinson hopes will combat Andalusia’s hitters.

Senior middle blocker Kortney Robinson didn’t play last year and sophomore middle blocker Shelby Griffin is coming off an injury earlier in the season, but both have played their best volleyball recently.

“We’re bigger on the net than we were last year,” Leighsa Robinson said. “Our ability to block is a little bit better. I think we’re hitting the ball better than we were last year.

“We lost a lot of leadership last year and I was really worried, but our seniors, the second half of the season have really stepped up.”

Evidence can be found in Jemison’s regional championship (the Panthers finished second last season).

“I think this year we played very consistent,” Robinson said. “It was just a total team effort. If we hadn’t done that, then I think Calera would have took first. We stayed focused throughout the day, and that was a big turnaround for us.”

But the real test will be whether the Panthers (31-11) can win Thursday. The best-of-five match begins at 4 p.m. at Alton Cobb Gymnasium.

“From here on out, there’s no such thing as an easy win,” Robinson said.

By Stephen Dawkins

Jemison’s volleyball team hosted and won its area tournament on Oct. 16, meaning the Panthers (31-11) will also get to host a sub-state match on Thursday with a chance to advance to the Elite 8 state tournament.

Coach Leighsa Robinson said Saturday was as well as her team had performed in a tournament all season.

“It was a total team effort this weekend,” Robinson said.

JHS defeated Tarrant, 3-0 (25-6, 25-10, 25-10); Elmore County, 3-1 (25-14, 25-17, 17-25, 25-15) and area foe Calera, 3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 27-25), in the championship match.

Senior setter Kasi Wells was voted the regional tournament Most Valuable Player. She recorded 43 assists, nine kills, six digs, five aces and three blocks in the three matches combined.

Tanya Liveoak and Haley Smitherman tied for the team lead in aces with 11 each. Emily Smithey recorded a team-high 45 digs, and Kortney Robinson posted 29 kills. Shelby Griffin had 16 blocks.

Thursday’s match against Andalusia will begin at 4:30 p.m.

By Stephen Dawkins

Jemison’s volleyball team hopes home continues to be sweet.

The Panthers (28-11) on Tuesday hosted and won the Class 4A, Area 6 tournament, earning the right to host one of four 4A regional tournaments across the state on Saturday.

Calera (13-13), who Jemison defeated in the championship match, 3-1 (25-23, 25-14, 19-25, 25-22), also advanced to the regional.

“We had some letdowns, but Calera is a good team—they’re well-coached,” Jemison coach Leighsa Robinson said. “We were more consistent than we’ve been, and that’s going to be big going into Saturday.”

JHS breezed by first-year program West Blocton, 3-0 (25-1, 25-4, 25-12) in the first match of the day, and the championship match was set when Calera topped Bibb County, 3-0 (25-18, 25-12, 25-5).

Robinson singled out the play of senior setter Kasi Wells and senior defensive specialist Emily Smithey, but the tournament’s Most Valuable Player recognition went to Calera’s junior setter, Kellie Rasmussen.

Wells and Kortney Robinson were named to the all-tournament team from Jemison.

Wells recorded 25 assists in two matches; Robinson posted seven kills and five blocks in the last match.

By Stephen Dawkins

Jemison has some momentum heading into its volleyball area tournament.

The Panthers played well on Saturday in a 2-1 loss to Isabella in the Chilton County Volleyball Tournament and then swept Chilton County High School on Tuesday, 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 26-24), in both teams’ last match of the regular season.

Jemison and CCHS will play in area tournaments on Oct. 12. Details of those tournaments will be decided on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, JHS won the first two sets before losing focus in the third and making uncharacteristic mistakes like missing serves.

But a Kasi Wells aces put Jemison up 18-17, and the Panthers won it on a block by Shelby Griffin.

Jemison’s Haley Smitherman filled up the stat sheet with seven digs, five assists and three aces.

Morgan Posey led the visitors with 16 digs, and Wells led with 14 assists to go along with four aces.

Kortney Robinson had 10 kills and six blocks for JHS.

Renee Lewis had seven assists for the hosts, Rachel Johnston had eight kills and four digs, Keondra Looney recorded eight kills and Lauren Stewart posted nine assists, four digs and two kills.

Isabella fought back from a lost first set on Saturday to defeat rival Jemison, 2-1 (18-25, 25-21, 15-7) and win the Chilton County Volleyball Tournament for the second time in three seasons.

No county team other than Isabella or Jemison has won the tournament since its resumption in 2003, and the Mustangs and Panthers fought like familiar foes at this year’s event, hosted by Thorsby.

Jemison played focused, flawless volleyball in taking the first set from Isabella, ranked eighth in Class 1A, but the second and third sets were dominated by tournament Most Valuable Player Amber Wyatt, who finished with 23 kills, seven blocks, seven digs and six aces in two matches.

Isabella defeated Thorsby, 2-0 (25-17, 25-14) in its first match of the day, while Jemison topped Chilton County, 2-0 (25-19, 25-6), to advance to the championship match.

CCHS beat Thorsby, 2-0 (25-15, 25-22), in the consolation match.

Along with Wyatt, the all-tournament team included Chilton County’s Keondra Looney, Thorsby’s Desiree Evans, Jemison’s Kasi Wells and Hallie Amos, and Isabella’s Savannah Kissel and Heather Mason.

Emily Smithey got every one of her 19 serves in, and that number included five aces, second only to Wells’ eight aces.

Smithey led the team in digs with 16; Amos wasn’t far behind with 14.

Wells recorded 23 assists.

Kortney Robinson had nine kills, and Shelby Griffin led Jemison with four blocks.

By Stephen Dawkins

As is usually the case when Chilton County’s two traditional volleyball powers meet, Isabella and Jemison on Tuesday each put forth one of their best efforts of the year.

The Mustangs (25-8) won for the second time this season, 3-1 (25-19, 25-13, 21-25, 25-19).

“That was probably the best effort we’ve had all season,” Isabella coach Glen Graham said. “I thought both teams fought all night long. There’s a lot of pride in these two programs.”

The numbers backed up Graham’s assessment.

IHS seniors Amber Wyatt (25 kills) and Jessica Maciel (35 assists) each posted career highs.

The visitors rode that combination—Maciel setting up Wyatt for a thundering kill—to relatively easy wins in the first two sets.

Jemison (21-9) wasn’t about to go quietly, though. The Panthers fought back to win Set 3, but in the end there was too much Isabella, the ninth-ranked team in Class 1A.

Allison Mims recorded 11 digs for IHS, and Kaylynn Culp contributed defensively with nine digs.

Culp also had three aces, and Wyatt also had eight blocks.

Emily Smithey led Jemison’s effort to control Wyatt with 12 digs. Tanya Liveoak had 10 digs, and Morgan Posey had eight.

Haley Smitherman posted four digs to go along with five kills.

Kasi Wells was good for 11 assists, six digs and four kills. Hallie Amos had five digs and four kills, and Kortney Robinson posted seven blocks and four kills.

Isabella’s junior varsity won, 2-1 (19-25, 25-23, 15-10); and the Mustangs middle school team was also victorious, 2-1 (12-25, 25-18, 15-11).

From Staff Reports

Jemison’s varsity and junior varsity volleyball squads defeated Calera on Monday.

It was an area contest for the JHS varsity, which won 3-2 (25-9, 19-25, 15-25, 25-14, 15-8).

“We lost to them earlier in the season, but we are not the same team we were Aug. 24,” Jemison coach Leighsa Robinson said. “We passed the ball and served tough.”

The Panthers (14-7) missed only 11 serves in 92 attempts and had seven aces.

Kasi Wells recorded 36 assists and one block.

Tanya Liveoak served 19-for-20 and had four digs. Haley Smitherman got in all 13 of her serve attempts and had four digs, two assists and five kills.

Shelby Griffin posted eight kills, and Kortney Robinson pitched in 13 kills and two blocks.

Emily Smithey served 100 percent from the line (15 attempts) to go along with 10 digs and two kills.

Hallie Amos had 10 kills and five digs.

Jemison’s JV improved its record to 5-1 on the season with a 2-0 (25-17, 25-6) win.

From Staff Reports

Kasi Wells’ performance was so impressive during a tournament at Oak Grove that the senior setter was named Most Valuable Player though the Panthers lost the championship match to Brookwood, 2-1 (25-18, 13-25, 15-13).

Wells missed on only five of 62 serves in the tournament and also recorded 43 assists, 10 kills, 10 digs and three blocks.

In the tournament, the Panthers (13-7) defeated Brookwood, 2-1 (25-23, 24-26, 15-13); Fultondale, 2-0 (25-6, 26-24); and Oak Grove, 2-0 (25-18, 25-13).

Senior defensive specialist Emily Smithey and sophomore middle blocker Shelby Griffin were named to the all-tournament team.

The tournament was part of a week in which Jemison went 5-2. JHS also defeated Chilton County, 3-1; and lost to Isabella, 3-0.

For the week, Haley Smitherman recorded five aces, eight digs, 14 assists and 16 kills.
Tanya Liveoak missed only five serves in 94 attempts and had 15 aces. She also had 41 digs.

Wells tallied 21 aces, 12 digs, 68 assists, 14 kills and six blocks.

Tiffany Guin had four aces, 18 digs and eight blocks. Griffin had 29 kills and 11 blocks.

Morgan Posey was good for 25 digs. Kortney Robinson contributed 12 kills and 12 blocks.
Smithey had nine aces, 45 digs and four kills. Hallie Amos had eight aces, 19 digs and 15 kills.

By Stephen Dawkins

Thorsby and Jemison volleyball squared off in the championship match of the Thorsby-hosted Super Saturday Tournament Saturday, Aug. 21 at Jemison.

Jemison came out on top over Thorsby, winning 25-13 and 25-13 to take the title.

“The longer we played, the better we got,” Jemison coach Leighsa Robinson said.

Jemison defeated Shelby County twice and Vincent once to reach the match, propelled by the tournament’s most valuable player, Kasi Wells.

Wells had 61 assists and 15 aces to lead the tournament.

Her Jemison teammates also had strong showings in the tournament. Emily Smithey had 28 digs in the tournament, Shelby Griffin had 22 kills, and Kortney Robinson had 8 blocks.

Thorsby’s run to the championship included two wins against Sylacauga and a win over Fayetteville before meeting Jemison in the final.

“We played hard all day long until the championship game,” Thorsby coach Ginger Williams said. “Then we simply ran out of gas.”

It was Thorsby’s first tournament appearance during the regular season according to Williams.

Thorsby standouts include Holly Smith who had 42 assists and 14 aces, Kendra Dawson who had 12 digs and five aces, Desiree Evans who had nine kills and eight digs, and Jennifer Spivey who had nine kills and six blocks.