AREA ROUNDUP: USC Sumter celebrates sophomores with win over USC Salkehatchie
The USC Sumter volleyball team hosted its sister school in Salkehatchie for their sophomore night on Monday.
The Fire Ants had plenty to celebrate, as they outlasted their conference foes to improve to 5-3 in Region 10 and 8-12 overall.
Salkehatchie struck first, outlasting USC Sumter for a 25-19 win in the opening set. The next three sets were a grind, but the Fire Ants pulled out the win. It started with a 25-19 victory in the second. They then won by the same score in the third. Twenty-five points were not enough to determine a victor in the fourth set, but the Fire Ants were able to hold on for a 28-17 win to seal the deal.
Sophomores Leilani Campbell and Michaela Sanders both had strong performances after they were celebrated in a pregame ceremony, finishing with nine kills apiece. Former Thomas Sumter Academy start Emily Young led the offense with 12 kills, adding five blocks in a well-rounded performance.
The Fire Ants are in second place in Region 10 as they approach the home stretch.
VARSITY VOLLEYBALL
LEE ACADEMY 1
CAROLINA ACADEMY 3
The Lee Academy volleyball team got out to a hot start, but ran out of gas in a 3-1 loss against Carolina Academy on Monday.
The Lady Cavaliers took the opening set 25-20 before three grueling losses. The second set needed more than 25 points, as CA took a 27-25 win. The third set came down to the end as well, but the Lady Cavs were on the wrong end of a 25-23 set. Carolina Academy finished the win with a 25-21 victory.
Alleigh Brown led Lee Academy with 14 kills and 16 digs in the loss, while Brantley Norris added 11 digs.
SUMTER CHRISTIAN SPLITS MATCHES
The Sumter Christian volleyball team faced off with Step of Faith on Friday before a matchup with Covenant Classical on Monday. They earned a sweep on Friday before dropping a five-set battle against Covenant.
SCS cruised through the first two sets against Step of Faith, winning the first 25-6 before the second 25-4. The third set was much more competitive, but a strong finish helped seal a 25-21 victory to complete the sweep.
Emani Hammett had a big night, finishing with nine aces and six kills. Mia Moore added five aces, three kills and four assists. Eleana Barboza had four aces, five kills and two assists. Luella Jennings had five aces and a pair of kills. Laurie Koehler added four assists and an ace.
Sumter Christian then had a battle on Monday. They opened with a hard-fought 25-22 win before losing a marathon 27-25. Covenant took a 2-1 lead with a 25-17 victory before SCS fought back with a 25-21 win in the fourth. Sumter Christian ran out of gas in the fifth, falling 15-1 to lose the match.
Hammett led the team in kills, aces and assists with nine apiece. Barboza added six aces, seven kills and four assists. Moore had eight kills, four assists and two aces.
Sumter Christian fell to 5-7 on the season.
BOYS SOCCER
SUMTER CHRISTIAN 1
NORTHSIDE CHRISTIAN 6
The Sumter Christian School boys soccer team fell to Northside Christian 6-1 on Friday, falling to 1-6 on the season.
Jordan Rodriguez scored the lone goal for SCS off an assist by Caden Atkinson. Jonathan Kannon and Atkinson had 16 steals in the match. Larry Wayne Rodgers was busy in net, finishing with 20 saves.