Eagles Looking To Use Experience To Excel In New SeasonThe Chesnee boys basketball team will look to use the experience they gained from last year and build on it as they enter the 2020 season. The Eagles return four starters from last years team as seniors Nyquille O'Fair, Lorenzo Duren, and Cole Hoskyns will be back along with All-Region junior KJ Valentine. Valentine and O'Fair were also named preseason All-Region selections for the 2020 season. Those four starters will be joined by a group of newcomers that include senior Noah Blackwell, junior Ty Dawkins, and sophomore Andrew Gregory as the Eagles look to use their size this season to their advantage. "We're returning a solid group that gained a lot of experience last season," said Chesnee head coach Andy Pitt. "We'll have more size this year than we've had in a long time and that should provide added depth in rebounding and controlling the ball around the rim." The Eagles will be seeing a lot of new opponents this season as they move from the 3A ranks to 2A. While there will also be some familiar faces like Landrum the Eagles will be competing in a very competitive region that includes the preseason #4 ranked team in 2A, Greer Middle College. Chesnee will kick off their season with two straight home games as they host Broome on December 1st before facing their fellow district school, Boiling Springs, in a home match on December 4th. Lady Eagles Looking Towards Senior Leadership For Strong SeasonJust like their male counterparts, the Chesnee girls basketball team will look to build off of their experience from last season as they make the move from 3A back to the 2A ranks in 2020. Chesnee will be returning three starters from last year's team as seniors players Kymiah Blair (who averaged over three steals a game last season) and Jamekia Evans will look to control the Eagles backcourt this season. They will join fellow senior, All-Region center Jessa Beach, as togther they look to lead the Eagles to the top of their new region. Beach finished last season averaging a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds per game to go along with an average of two blocks per game. This group will be joined by senior shooting guard Shenandoah Bishop, who returns to the team after sitting out last season, and junior Brie Smith who will step into a starting role this year for the Eagles. The new region will see some familiar competition for the Eagles as it includes teams like Landrum and Blacksburg, the preseason #10 team in 2A, who is led by senior Mikala Logan. "We're looking to compete this year and finish in the top of our new region," said Chesnee head coach Carey Burns. "I feel like it if we concentrate on improving every day in practice and take that over to the games the wins will follow." Chesnee kicked off their season in the Turkey Shootout at Broome just prior to Thanksgiving where they won the championship by defeating Broome and Berea. The Eagles next contest will be December 1st in a home game against Broome in a rematch of their Turkey Shootout first round game. Young Eagles Wrestling Team Looking To CompeteThe Chesnee wrestling team will look to their senior leadership to lead a young Eagles team as they set their eyes on a region championship in 2020.
"We will have a fairly young team but we have some senior leadership," said Chesnee head coach Jon Rentz. "We have several underclassmen who wrestle a lot of club so we are an experienced group." The Eagles have seven starters returning this season and nine returners from a team that went 18-9 last season including sophomores Aedan Mendoza, Ricky Henderson, Garrett Williams, D'Ante Falls along with juniors Bryson Wallace and Caleb Rentz. This group will be led by seniors Trevor Blankenship, Brayden Sprinkle, Jose Guzman, and last year's All-Region selection Corey Seay. The group of nine returners will be joined by seventeen newcomers that include Noah Wise, Deep Saggu, Bryson Thomas, Jesse Cozby, Noah Cooper, Brenton Suddeth, Kaleb Mason, Noah Gottschalk, Jace Wallace, Noah Henderson, Owen Pilon, Ario Trujillo, Gunther Gerstenacker, Austin Bigford, Dylan Jolley, Nick Hofer, and Jacob Ingle. With the Eagles move to 2A this season they will be looking to see how that change effects their results in 2020. "Our goals are to win region and be competitive in individuals as well as duals," said Rentz. "It will be interesting to see how we wrestle in 2A after being in 3A for the past several years." With time running out in the championship game of the Turkey Shootout on Monday evening at Broome High School, Chesnee senior Jessa Beach made a block of a driving Berea player to give the Eagles a 35-34 victory over the Bulldogs and the championship. It wasn't Beach's first block to win a championship this month as she also blocked a shot to win the volleyball state championship game just a few weeks ago.
"Jessa is the type of athlete that you want on the court at all times," said Chesnee head coach Carey Burns. "She brings a sort of calmness to the team when she's on the court and that block at the end of the game was a huge play for us." The championship game was very competitive from the start as Beach got the first points of the game as the two teams battled to a 9-9 score at the end of the first quarter. The Eagles were led in the quarter by senior Jamekia Evans who scored five of the team's nine first quarter points. In the second quarter the Eagles turned up the defensive pressure as they outscored the Bulldogs 12-1 in the quarter thanks to the strong defensive play of senior Kymiah Blair, who finished the game with eight steals to go along with eleven points and four rebounds. The play of Blair in the backcourt and Beach in the frontcourt helped give the Eagles a 21-10 halftime lead. "I really look for Kymiah and Jessa to be my two leaders on the court," said Burns. "I think the performance we saw from them especially on the defensive end was just the beginning and we're going to see a lot of improvement as the season goes along." Berea went on a 15-5 run of their own in the third quarter to pull the score to within one at 25-24 as the teams entered the final quarter of play. In the final quarter of play both teams battled hard for the championship and with the Eagles still leading by one and under thirty seconds left in the game Berea made a steal to go on a fast break but Blair was able to race back to make a steal for the Eagles. After making the steal Blair's foot landed out of bounds to give the Bulldogs back the ball which led to the block by Beach. As time expired the Bulldogs got up one final heave but it fell short giving Chesnee the win. Coach Burns was very happy about the opportunity for her team to play in the Turkey Shootout at Broome especially in a season with so much uncertainty. "I appreciate Broome High School giving us the opportunity to be a part of the Turkey Shootout and getting two solid games in this early," said Burns. "With this season you just never know when your last game is going to come so I really appreciate all they've done for us down here at Broome and the hospitality they've shown." Jamekia Evans and Kymiah Blair led the Eagles in points on Monday as both scored eleven points in the championship game. Jessa Beach finished the game with five points to go along with fourteen rebounds and three blocked shots. The Eagles will now wait until after the Thanksgiving holidays to return to the court as their next game will be a home game against Broome on December 1st. Abbeville landed several big blows on Friday night allowing them to pick up a 32-7 win over Chesnee and advance to the AA Upper State Championship.
"We knew we had to be perfect on both sides of the ball to have a chance,” said Chesnee head coach Clay Lewis. “We knew we could compete with them and that's one thing I can say about our kids tonight is they competed. We didn't make enough plays but we had our chances." The Panthers grabbed the lead in their first drive as Navi Marshall found the endzone on a twenty-one yard scoring strike but were limited to six points as Eagles senior Corey Seay bulldozed through the line and blocked the extra point try. Abbeville added a second first half score as Martico Jackson ran it in from forty-one yards out but were once again held to six points as the two point try came up just short keeping the Panthers lead at 12-0 heading into halftime. Chesnee’s defense did a good job limiting the Abbeville attack in the first half as they held them to a season low in points. The Panthers started the second half with a big play as Martico Jackson fielded an onside kick attempt before racing to the opposite sideline and then upfield for a thirty-six yard return to set the Panthers up in the Chesnee redzone. The Panthers took advantage of the great field position by scoring on a Tyrell Haddon sixteen yard run to put Abbeville up 18-0 to start the second half. The Panthers were held to six on their third consecutive scoring drive as Corey Seay blocked his third point after attempt in two games. Abbeville added another score as Ty Cade returned an interception for a touchdown with just over eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter to give the Panthers a 25-0 lead. Praise Edrington gave Chesnee good field position on the ensuing kickoff and was followed by a thirty-three yard run by Dylan Bennett to set the Eagles up deep in Panther territory. Quarterback Nyquille O'Fair picked up a touchdown on a run from sixteen yards out becoming the first player this season from the state of South Carolina to score on the Abbeville defense and pulled the Eagles to within 25-7 with just under six minutes left. Haddon added his second touchdown on the night for the Panthers when he ran it in from twenty-one yards out to deliver the 32-7 final score, as the thirty-two points was the lowest point total for the Wildcats this season. Chesnee's Camden Burns finished with another one hundred yard game as he had one hundred and seventeen yards on the ground. The total pushed Burns over the one thousand yard plateau for the season as he averaged nearly one hundred and twelve yards a game at over seven yards per carry. Corey Seay led the Eagles defensively with seven and a half tackles and two blocked kicks while also adding half a sack. Cole Hoskyns picked up an interception and a half sack of his own. The Chesnee senior class took a team that set a school record for losses in 2018 to a region title and a 7-2 record in 2020. "Our seniors have been outstanding all season long,” said Lewis. “These kids really put in a lot of work after last season was over. They were determined to come out and be a better football team than they were before and I think we accomplished that." Senior defensive end Colby Davis is proud of the mark he and his fellow seniors are leaving behind on the Eagles program. "It's amazing to see the culture change at Chesnee,” said Davis. “To see the big turnaround in our program it just makes me excited about the future. We worked really hard this offseason to try and win a state championship but we are going to make sure they will be back next year." Chesnee used a pair of first half scores to down Newberry 14-12 in the first round of the 2A playoffs on Friday night. The win was the Eagles first home playoff win since a 55-40 win over Chesterfield in 2014.
"It feels great to get the first home playoff win in six years," said Chesnee head coach Clay Lewis. "I'm real proud of the kids and the coaches." After a back and forth affair through the first quarter the Eagles got the first big break of the game as the Bulldog's had issues with a snap on a punt attempt that gave the Eagles the ball at the Bulldogs three yard line. Quarterback Nyquille O'Fair quickly ran it in for a touchdown on the first play of the ensuing drive to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead with thirty seconds remaining in the first quarter. The Eagle defense once again came up with a big stop turning the ball back over to the Chesnee offense for a drive that ate up nearly five minutes of the clock. The drive was sparked by an impressive one handed catch near the right side boundary by Praise Edrington to give the Eagles the ball at the three yard line. Camden Burns capped the drive off on the next play with a three yard touchdown run to double the Eagles lead to 14-0 with under five minutes to go in the half. On the ensuing Bulldog drive they converted a fourth down attempt on the legs of KJ Robinson but two plays later Chesnee's Kjymie Valentine ended the Bulldogs drive with his third interception of the season. Newberry opened the second half with a strong drive that lasted ten plays but ended when Chesnee's Corey Seay recovered a Bulldog fumble to end the threat. After the Bulldogs forced a three and out for the Eagles, they hammered out a thirteen play drive that took six minutes off the clock and was capped off by a four yard touchdown run by KJ Robinson to make the score 14-6 after Chesnee's Corey Seay was able to get a paw on the point after attempt to hold the Bulldogs to just six points. "That was a big play," said Lewis about the block point after attempt by Seay. "They go down and score but that block by Corey forced them to have to come down and score again along with forcing them to go for two." After a Chesnee turnover Newberry responded with another long drive that saw Zsyheim Epps hit Zack Chalmers for a thirty-three yard gain through the air. The Bulldogs pulled within two when Craig Austin capped off the drive by rumbling in from ten yards out to put the score at 14-12 in favor of Chesnee. Newberry was forced to go for two and almost got it on a Philly special type play but a great defensive play by Chesnee's Davion Stradford kept the Eagles lead at two. After O'Fair caught the pooch kick he then led the Chesnee offense on a five minute, eleven play drive that ended the game as he accounted for sixty yards on the final drive. "I try to let my teammates know everyday in practice that they can lean on me," said O'Fair about his performance on the final drive. "I strive to show them that." Camden Burns led all rushers with one hundred and twenty-five yards on twenty-one carries while also adding a touchdown run to his stat book. O'Fair had thirteen carries for ninety-eighty yards and a score to go along with two completions for seventeen yards. Dylan Bennett and Brandon Mills led the Eagles with six tackles a piece while Corey Seay had four tackles to go a long with the blocked point after attempt and fumble recovery. KJ Robinson led Bulldogs with one hundred and twenty-four yards on the ground with a touchdown run of his own. Chesnee will travel to Abbeville next Friday night to compete in the second round of the 2A playoffs. The winner of that matchup will be competing in the Upper State championship game. On Thursday afternoon the Chesnee Eagles saw three athletes sign to continue their athletic careers at the collegiate level next season and between the three they have accounted for two state championships and two state runner-up finishes, along with region player of the year and state player of the year honors.
North Greenville was the most represented school amongst the signings on Thursday as AC Yelton committed to play volleyball for the Crusaders and Callie Gray committed there as well to compete in cheerleading. With both athletes the Crusaders are getting players that have won state championships for Chesnee in recent years. Yelton finished her volleyball career with Chesnee by celebrating a 2A state championship just a week ago. In her career with the Eagles she has accumulated 758 kills, 109 ace serves, 39 blocks, 558 digs, and 373 assists to go along with being named to the All-Region team four times as well as being named the region player of the year this season. She said that the environment at North Greenville led her to choose the Crusaders as her college destination. "North Greenville just felt like hone as soon as I stepped foot on the campus," said Yelton. "I love that their goal is to glorify Christ because that just fit what I'm looking for in a school. I just love the coaches, the atmosphere, and the school." Callie Gray was a member of the Eagles 2019 cheerleading team that won the state championship and will be looking to repeat that feat this season. She said that she chose North Greenville because of her family's connection to the school. "My dad played football there and I just always loved the environment," said Gray. "I think the coach at North Greenville is a very kind person who is always there for everyone." The Chesnee golf team also had a player commit on Thursday as Isabella Britt signed to continue her golfing career at the College of Charleston next season. Britt is one of the founding members of the Eagles golf team that has finished in the runner-up position the last two seasons at the state championship tournament. She was named the 3A player of the year last season and said that the environment played a key role in her decision to pick the Cougars as her college choice. "I just fell in love with the environment," said Britt. "The team and coaches are just so supportive with a really good team chemistry. It's just easy being down there and you feel like you're part of the team even when you're not down there." The Woodruff Wolverines gave the Chesnee Eagles their first loss of the season as they took the Battle of 221 with a 49-28 win.
"That's the type of teams we will see in the playoffs," said Chesnee head coach Clay Lewis. "I thought it was a good test for us. They are a very good program." The game got off to a bad start for the Eagles as they fumbled on the opening kickoff. Two plays later Carson Tucker hit Shamare Dendy on a screen pass he took twenty-four yards to the end zone for a early 7-0 lead for the Wolverines. After several back and forth possessions, Chesnee would finally put points on the board in the opening minute of the second quarter with a Nyquille O'Fair one yard touchdown run. The drive was sparked by a O'Fair screen pass to Camden Burns that gained twenty-six yards. On the ensuing Wolverine possession penalties plagued both teams, but the biggest penalty gave Woodruff a first down on a fourth down roughing the punter call. Woodruff would score on the next play as Carson Tucker would find Zy Scott for a sixty-five yard scoring strike to put the Wolverines back in front 14-7. Chesnee would respond on the ensuing possession as a pair of big runs by Praise Edrington set up a forty-nine yard touchdown pass from Nyquille O'Fair to Cole Hoskyns to tie it back up at fourteen. The Wolverines would quickly respond as Tucker would once again find Scott to give the Wolverines a seven point cushion, this time from twenty-five yards out. Michael Paslawski would spark the Eagle response on the ensuing possession as returned the kickoff seventy-nine yards to the Woodruff eleven yard line. Camden Burns would punch it in on the first play from scrimmage to tie it back up at twenty-one. The touchdown was Burns' tenth on the ground this season. The Wolverines would use a nine play drive to open the second half and would regain the lead when Carson Tucker would find Mathias Dial for a thirty-seven yard scoring strike. The Eagles would respond with a ten yard scoring run from Nyquille O'Fair. O'Fair would use his arm to setup the play with a eighteen yard backdoor screen to Cole Hoskyns. After a wacky onside kick attempt where both teams had possession resulted in the Wolverines having the ball at the Chesnee thirty-five yard line, the Wolverines would need just one play to score as Shamare Dendy would take it to the house to put the Wolverines back in front for good. After Chesnee would fumble the ball once again on the kickoff and give the ball back to Woodruff at midfield the Wolverines would need ten plays to double their lead to 42- 28. Jonathan Sexton would find paydirt as Carson Tucker would find him from eight yards out with a pass. Woodruff would score on their final possession of the game as Damarian Elmore would run it in from twenty-six yards out. Nyquille O'Fair finished with a hundred and forty-three total yards and three scores with a hundred and twelve of that through the air. Cole Hoskyns lead the Chesnee receivers with four catches for seventy-three yards and a score. Camden Burns leaf the Chesnee rushers with thirteen carries for seventy-six yards and a score. Corey Seay and Dylan Bennett lead the Eagles with seven and a half tackles each. Shamare Dendy lead the Wolverines rushers with hundred and forty five yards and a score on twenty-seven carries. Woodruff quarterback Carson Tucker was fourteen of twenty-two through the air for two hundred and fourteen yards and five scores. Zy Scott lead all Woodruff receivers with five catches for a hundred and four yards with two touchdowns. The Eagles will host Newberry next week in the opening round of the SCHSL playoffs. Jessa Beach ended Thursday night with five blocks but it was the last one that was the most important as the final one delivered Chesnee it's first ever volleyball state championship as the Eagles defeated Andrew Jackson 3-0 to come away with the 2020 SC 2A state championship in front of a large group of supporters at Dutch Fork High School. "We're so excited and I'm so happy for the girls that they get to experience this and see that all their hard work has paid off," said Chesnee head coach Katie Jolley. "They've worked so hard every year that they've been here and just shown such dedication. They've wanted it so bad and I'm just glad they could get this win." "The emotions haven't set in yet as I'm still on this adrenaline high but I can feel it coming," said senior AC Yelton. "When I get on that bus I imagine it will turn a little different but it's still going to be an exhilarating feeling." Chesnee got the match started just the way it ended as Jessa Beach got the first point of the set on a block to put the Eagles ahead 1-0 and that lead stretched to 5-0 on a four point service run by Kaitlyn Barrett that included an ace serve and two kills by Yelton. Andrew Jackson was able to make the score 11-6 before Holly Hines went on a twelve point service run that put the score at 24-6 in a set the Eagles won 25-7. The service run by Hines came as no surprise to her head coach. "She's been uneasy with her serving but we knew she had that ability," said Jolley. "She found a way to score from that backline tonight and her setting was spot on." Hines said that she knew she had to take an aggressive approach to her serving and it paid off on Thursday night. "We were at practice and I knew to get points I was going to have to be an aggressive server," said Hines. "I knew it was my job to get points when I was serving to get the lead and Coach Jolley was telling me great spots to put the ball and I executed it." Hines didn't leave the strong serving behind in the first set as she started the second set with two ace serves on a five point service run to give the Eagles an early 5-0 lead. Andrew Jackson managed to get the score to 12-6 before a kill by Barrett was followed by a six point service run from Ali Scruggs that included two service aces and two more kills by Barrett to put the score at 19-6 on their way to a 25-12 set win. Barrett said that the support of her teammates helped her get off to a fast start at the net. "I knew I had my team to back me up so if I made a mistake they would help me out," said Barrett. "To get so many kills and the game started it was just a lot of fun." The third set started off with a kill by Barrett to give the Eagles a quick 1-0 lead but Andrew Jackson battled back to take a 7-4 lead as Chesnee trailed for the first time in the match. After the Eagles got the serve back AC Yelton went on a six point service run to reclaim the lead at 11-7 and Chesnee never looked back. Chesnee led 23-17 on a kill by Barrett and as Hines made the final two serves of the season the Eagles clinched the match with a block by Beach to secure the state championship. "We've worked for this all season and it shows that all our work has paid off," said Beach. "Even though we got discouraged during the quarantine it just shows we persevered through the struggles and I'm glad to end my senior year with a win." Holly Hines also reiterated how much it means to see all their hard work rewarded with a championship. "It's just unbelievable," said Hines. "I think we put so much hard work into this program building it up each and every year. I was so relieved that all the hard work we've put in has paid off." The frontline of the Eagles played another strong match as Kaitlyn Barrett had sixteen kills to go along with nine digs while AC Yelton finished with eleven kills, eleven digs, and three ace serves. They were joined by Jessa Beach who had six kills to go with her five blocks and Ali Scruggs who finished with four ace serves. "They were huge tonight," said Jolley. "I can't say enough about them because they make defense a lot easier because they stop the ball and put it down when it gets on our side." While the frontline played a great game they had the outstanding play of the backline players to thank for that as Holly Hines finished with thirty-three assists to go along with five aces and Shenandoah Bishop led the team with thirteen digs. "Shenandoah doesn't get much credit because you don't notice her but that's a good thing because a great libero goes unnoticed,” said Jolley. "She made great passes and serve receives starting from the very first one. She made a perfect pass and it just set the tone for our team." Yelton seconded the thoughts of her coach saying that without the backline players the frontline players wouldn't be able to do their jobs. "We have a really solid front row and from the bleachers it lots of times looks like what is controlling the game but our back row is always there," said Yelton. "Our hitters are good and solid but without our passers and setters we're nothing." For Chesnee the state championship will be the final high school match for five seniors as the Eagles will say goodbye to AC Yelton, Jessa Beach, Ali Scruggs, Shenandoah Bishop, and Karlee Swaney but as seniors they couldn't find a better way to end their high school volleyball careers. "It means the world to end it like this with this group of girls," said Beach. "I wouldn't want to do it with anyone else as this is the best group of girls I have ever played with." Yelton said that the closeness of this group really helped pave the way for this championship. "We're best friends," said Yelton. "Last night after practice we all went to dinner together just because we all wanted to be together and I think that's a key part of what brought us this far." The Chesnee volleyball team will be competing for a state championship on Thursday night and a group of five seniors are looking to make their final game a memorable one for the Eagles. Karlee Swaney, Jessa Beach, Ali Scruggs, Shenandoah Bishop, and AC Yelton are hoping that their final volleyball game for the Eagles will end with the school's first ever volleyball state championship.
"This senior group is amazing," said Chesnee head coach Katie Jolley. "They have been here non-stop all summer and during the season. They work hard and give great leadership, I couldn't ask for a better group." Senior Jessa Beach says that she's glad that all the hard work throughout the year has been worth the investment. "To me this means all of our work has paid off," said Beach. "All the practices and morning workouts have paid off. I'm just glad to be able to compete for state with this team and show that Chesnee volleyball has what it takes." Senior Ali Scruggs and Karlee Swaney agree with Beach saying that reaching the state championship game shows that the hard work the team has put in was worth it. "It feels amazing because we have worked really hard all year to get to state," said Scruggs. "Now that it is finally here I am so excited and can't wait to see how we do." "We have worked so hard all year to come to this moment," said Swaney. "Playing a good opponent like this shows how hard we have worked and our dedication." Senior AC Yelton said that the hard work the team has put in to this run wasn't just a one year thing but something they have working towards for many years. "This is huge," said Yelton. "Going to state has been a year long work in progress and this is not just a one year thing. We have been fighting for for a long time now and to know we have a shot at it now is insane." Senior Shenandoah Bishop said that the great thing about this team is that it's not about just one player but a true team effort that has made them successful. 'It means a lot to come up big defensively because it's not about me but about my teammates," said Bishop. "When we get the digs it allows us to setup our hitters and that is when we are successful." Yelton seconds the thoughts of Bishop saying that the Eagles success has been a true team effort. "That is why we are successful," said Yelton. "A lot of teams have one or two stud players and we have a team full of those type players. There isn't just one player that takes the focus of the other team and that is why I think we are successful." Scruggs says that the support from the community has also been a key in the Eagles successful run to the state championship game. "It feels amazing being at Chesnee where there is so much support," said Scruggs. "The stands were packed tonight and it made a big impact on us." The friendships between the Eagles players off the court has also been a key to their success on the court. "We love each other and we all get along so well," said Bishop. "That allows us to be able to communicate and work together on the court." Coach Jolley agrees that the communication by the team has been key in their success. "They are confident and they know what it takes to win," said Jolley. "They talk to each other on the court and move to the right positions. The seniors are showing the leadership and taking charge in winning points to lead us to victory." The seniors and the rest of the Eagles will look to finish off this season with a state championship when they face Andrew Jackson on Thursday night at Dutch Fork. The game will start at 7:00 PM. Chesnee junior Kaitlyn Barrett spiked the ball into the center of the North Central defense to start the match on Monday night and the Eagles never looked as they defeated the Knights 3-0 to win the 2A Upper State volleyball championship.
"We were able to stop them some early and it helped build our confidence," said Chesnee head coach Katie Jolley. "This is huge for us to get a chance to play for a state championship. We are so blessed to have such a great group of kids this year and are looking forward to this opportunity to play for state." The Eagles jumped out to an early lead as Barrett captured the first point of the match before she went on service run to put Chesnee ahead 5-0 before North Central scored their first point. Jolley said that the start that Barrett gave them helped establish the tone for the match. "When Kaitlyn starts off hot it's hard to stop her," said Jolley. "I knew when she had a good start especially with those serves I knew it was going to be a good night." Chesnee continued their hot start as they were ahead 11-1 before the Knights scored their second point and took that momentum throughout the first set to capture a 25-9 win when senior Jessa Beach got the winning kill on a spike to the middle of North Central frontline. The winning point in the first set wasn't the one for Beach in the match as she captured the winning point in all three sets on Monday night and Jolley said that her contributions don't always show up in the stat book but have been key this season. "I feel bad for Jessa because she doesn't always have the stats but when you see her play you notice her because the other team's hitters are always trying to hit around her," said Jolley. "She does a great job on the net and does a great job placing the ball. She's an underrated player because if you're not at the game you don't understand her impact because it doesn't show up on the stat sheet." In the second set North Central jumped out to a 3-1 lead and the teams exchanged the lead over the early parts of the set until the Eagles tied it at 14-14 on a kill by senior AC Yelton that started a four point service run by Barrett giving Chesnee a lead that the Knights were unable to overcome. North Central was able to cut the Eagles lead to 18-17 but were then outscored 7-3 the rest of the set as Chesnee won set two 25-20. "In the second set we got down a little bit but they kept their cool and realized we just had to go one point at a time," said Jolley. In the third set it became the AC Yelton show as she registered eleven kills in the set alone, as well as going on an eight point service run that took the score from 10-5 to a commanding 17-5 lead. In the final eight points for Chesnee, four of those came on kills by Yelton before Beach clinched the match with a block to give the Eagles a 25-11 set win along with sending them to the 2A state championship game. "AC is a great leader and knows hot to reset if she does make a mistake," said Jolley. "She stayed confident and really is the one who communicates for us on the court so her presence and leadership is just huge for us." Yelton finished the night with twenty-four kills to go along with seventeen digs, two ace serves, and two blocks. Kaitlyn Barrett was right behind Yelton in kills as she registered sixteen kills of her own. Senior Shenandoah Bishop also had a big night for the Eagles as she registered twenty-one digs to go along with two ace serves along with a five point service run in the third set that took the score from 3-2 to 7-2 in the deciding set. Holly Hines had a big night as well as she registered forty-four assists for the Eagles on Monday night. With the win the Eagles captured their second Upper State championship in volleyball (as they also captured one in 2012) but will look to win their first state championship on Thursday at Dutch Fork high school in Columbia where they'll face the lower state champions Andrew Jackson. The match will start at 7:00 PM and Jolley says the Eagles are looking forward to this opportunity to compete and represent their community. "We're just excited to get a chance to compete for a state championship," said Jolley. "We just want to compete, give our best effort, and we're excited to get to represent Chesnee High School." |
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