Storm Volleyball Team Notches Sixth Straight Win
September 10, 2023 – The Davidson-Davie Community College volleyball team continued its successful start to the season and won its sixth match in a row Friday night in Brinkley Gym.
The Storm served well, covered the court efficiently and got their big hitters involved to easily sweep Southwest Virginia 25-17, 25-15, 25-17 in Region 10 play of NJCAA Division II.
After being swept by Caldwell Tech on Aug. 26, in what coach Steve Elliott dubbed their worst performance of the season, the Storm have rebounded nicely, losing a total of just two games during
the winning streak. “Our ball control and our serve-receive, especially in these last two matches, have been extremely good,” said Elliott, whose team is 9-1 overall. “I like our intensity right now and we’re working towards keeping this.”
Davidson-Davie never trailed in any of the three games Friday. Sophomore outside hitter Kennedy Powell led the way with 13 kills to go along with nine digs. Fellow outside hitter Gabrielle Greene put down 11 kills and had 14 digs. Hannah Arnett was her usual steady self with setting, collecting 18 assists while adding 12 digs and even three kills. “In that last (game) you saw a true 6-2 formation where we have two different setters and three hitters on the front row,” said Elliott. “We’ve always had big hitters and great setters. We’ve got girls that can put it away. The hardest part of the game is defense and passing.”
Southwest Virginia, which has a young team with only one sophomore, dropped to 1-1 in Region 10 and 3-9 overall. The Storm, meanwhile, are building toward one of their best seasons in program history.
“Since the first day of practice everything just clicked with this team,” said freshman middle blocker/hitter Emma Rogers. “We’ve found a groove with pretty much everything. I am glad I am here.
Steve pursued me in high school (North Davidson) and saw me play club. I wasn’t sure I was good enough to play at this level. But I thought about it and decided to give it a shot.”
Elliott knows his team has the meat of its schedule coming up. “Oh, it’s going to get tougher Tuesday night when we play at Sandhills, which is one of our rivals,” the fifth-year coach said. “And in two weeks (Sept. 23) we play Cape Fear and Fayetteville Tech. I like where we are but we have to keep getting better.”
