CHESNEE, SC - It's not very often that players are able to say their one of the few people in school history to do something, but Pearl Holloway now has that honor as she became only the second known player in Eagles history to pass the 1,000 career assists mark.
Holloway passed the mark in the Eagle's game at Walhalla on Monday night but was able to celebrate the milestone in front of the home crowd on Tuesday when she was awarded a golden volleyball that had her accomplishment as well as her name painted on. She said that being able to accomplish the feat with this team is special because it's one of her favorites and to be able to celebrate it with the home crowd was a great experience. "It's special to get this accomplishment because I've been working for this for a while," said Holloway. "To accomplish it with this team is really special because it's my favorite team that I've been a part of, and I could feel the love from everyone here tonight." Chesnee head coach Katie Jolley said that she's happy for Holloway to reach this milestone because she's putting so much work into getting better. "It's a huge accomplishment because she works non-stop," said Jolley. "She's one of those players that if you tell her to do something, she's going to do it with 110 percent of her ability. You see kids like that succeed because they are so hardworking and push themselves to be better." With the Eagles being full of younger players this year, including their JV team, which is mostly freshmen, Jolley says it's important to those players seeing an older player reach that accomplishment and the work it takes to get to that point. She added it's also important to the players wanting to be Eagles volleyball players one day to see a player get recognized like that. "It's huge for all the younger players to see this milestone," said Jolley. "On our JV team we have mostly freshmen and all the young setters, including my niece who was in the stands, get to see her getting recognized for this milestone and saying 'hey, that's something I can achieve one day' and it's just special for the whole community." When asked about her milestone, Holloway was quick to say that she couldn't do it without her team and said that she hopes her accomplishment inspires her younger teammates to achieve the same thing as the seniors did for her during her younger playing days. "It's a great feeling to get this mark but you can't get an assist without your hitters so it's really a team accomplishment," said Holloway. "It's great to be leading this young team and to be a part of their journey because I can remember as a younger player looking up to the seniors and wanting to accomplish what they did." Jolley said the impact that Holloway has on the team is felt every time she walks onto the court. "She's been huge in terms of her leadership and competitiveness," said Jolley. "She never wants to lose, and you saw it tonight with her body just flailing across the floor to hustle to get the ball. She gives it her all every day and in every moment." As for the game, the Eagles had a rematch against Crest who they lost to 3-0 last week and came just a few points away from a victory as they fell 3-2 to the visiting Chargers from just over the state line. Crest won the first set 25-9 and it looked like the match made head the same way as the first one as the Chargers took a 1-0 lead but the Eagles had a different outcome in mind. In the second set, the Eagles fell down 11-4 but soon they bounced back with a 15-6 run to take a 19-17 lead over Crest. The run was fueled by three kills from junior Maggie Blanton, two kills and two ace serves from senior Pearl Holloway, along with a kill each from sophomore Hayden Roberts and seventh grader Dacie Green. The final point of the second set came off the hands of Holloway as the Eagles claimed a 25-21 victory in set two to tie up the match at 1-1. The Eagles jumped out to a big 11-3 lead in the third set and never looked back on their way to a 25-16 victory in the set. The original run was helped by big plays Holloway, Blanton, and Green along with junior Carlee Turner and eighth grader Payden Pitman. Chesnee won the third set when Holloway spiked a ball to the left rear corner of the court just inside the backline to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Crest rebounded in the fourth set as they took a 25-15 over the Eagles to force a fifth set tiebreaker. In the fifth set the two teams tied six different times in a battle to 15 points and when it was over Crest just beat the Eagles grabbing a 15-12 win in the set and a 3-2 victory in the match, On the night she was honored, Pearl Holloway had a huge night as she led the team in kills, assists, and aces with 14 kills, 29 assists, five aces to go along with two blocks and 13 digs. Hayden Roberts ended the match with 13 kills, 11 digs, and six assists while Harley Grady had 18 digs and two aces. Dacie Green ended the match with six kills while Payden Pitman added two and a half blocks. Chesnee will be back in action on Thursday when they travel just a few minutes down the road to take on Spartanburg High School in another out-of-region matchup. Comments are closed.
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