BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
THE OBSERVER
AUBURN — Opelika High School won a thrilling shootout over Lee-Scott Academy on Aug. 31, winning 3-2 at Samford Gymnasium.
The Lady Bulldogs (2-2) won the second, third and fifth sets 25-21, 25-8 and 15-5, respectively, while the Lady Warriors (2-5) won the first and fourth sets 27-25 and 25-18, respectively.
Alaina Thomas doubled up for Opelika with 15 kills and 15 digs, Lauren Skipper had 10 kills, two blocks and six aces and McCall Clayton delivered 21 assists, 20 digs and seven aces.
K.K. Whyte turned in a complete performance for Lee-Scott with 10 kills, 15 digs and four aces. Elliott Scott dished out 27 assists and three aces, while Olivia Gibson contributed 11 kills, four aces and a block.
After losing to the Lady Warriors in the previous three meetings, Lady Bulldogs head coach Robin Roberts said the victory was a much-needed shot in the arm for her program.
“That was a huge win for the program and the girls, and I’m very proud of them,” Roberts said. “Lee-Scott always has a good volleyball program, so any time you can get a win over a team like that, it’s something for us to be proud of.”
After losing in the first set, Roberts said Opelika, which lost six seniors from last year’s team and was depleted by injuries heading into Monday, dug deep and found ways to keep themselves in the match.
“Every player really stepped up and showed that we have the opportunity to play multiple positions and still compete,” Roberts said. “We could have rolled over and let them just beat us in three [sets], but instead we battled and showed that we were capable of competing with them and believing in ourselves.”
With the Lady Bulldogs’ area schedule looming, Alaina Thomas said Opelika will use the win as motivation moving forward.
“I’m very proud of our team and how we pulled through, especially with all the injuries, and how we were playing for each other,” Thomas said. “We won’t have as much doubt in ourselves. When we play those bigger teams, we’ll see how we played in the past and how we succeeded. It’s definitely going to give us some more momentum and more confidence in our play.”
For Lee-Scott head coach Brad Starks, the game came down to youthful errors and his inexperienced team needing to gain more in-game experience.
“I’ve got to hand it to Opelika, they played with a ton of passion and desire. Volleyball comes down to who wants it more, and I think they wanted it more than we did tonight,” Starks said. “We fought, so I can’t say we didn’t play hard. Our inexperience just showed up a few times. We made some boneheaded plays that we would probably [normally] make in our sleep, but we didn’t make them.”
The Lady Bulldogs host Smiths Station High School on Wednesday, Sept. 9, at 4:30 p.m. Opelika faced LaGrange High School on Tuesday, Sept. 1, but that result was not available before Tuesday’s press deadline.
The Lady Warriors travel to Dothan on Thursday, Sept. 3, to play Houston Academy.
