Blue Ridge Volleyball Off To a 3-1 Start This Season
The Lady Jackets have started things off right with wins over Mogollon, St.
Johns and Holbrook and just one loss to a talented Tuba City squad. Blue
Ridge started the season with a first game win at Mogollon 25-15. They
struggled with errors in games two and three and lost 21-25 and 24-26, but
came back to win games four and five 25-14, 15-9. “It was a typical first
match of the year full of excitement and jitters as we finally got a chance
to test ourselves against another team. Mogollon always plays us tough and
we knew we would have to play well to beat them,” said Blue Ridge Coach Tami
Ellsworth. JamieLee London led all hitters with 25 kills, freshman Caylin
Lee played a solid game and had 9 kills. Cami Williams had 7 and Laina
Boniolo 5. Senior setter Liesl Hall had 45 assists. “Jamie and Liesl did a
great job and show how important our experienced seniors are to this team.
Anna Martin, Cami and Jamie all passed very well and gave us the
opportunities we needed on offense.”
After the win at Mogollon, the Jackets were on the road again, this time
traveling to Tuba City. Here they experienced an 0-3 loss to the Warriors;
23-25, 23-25, 24-26. “Tuba City was a little bit more advanced than we were
at this point in the season. They ran a quick offense and really made us pay
for our mistakes. We hung right there with them in every game and I thought
that our effort was good, we just couldn’t seem to take a game.” Cami
Williams had a tough game with 14 kills and two blocks. JamieLee London
contributed 10 kills and 1 block. Laina Boniolo had 3 blocks and 3 kills.
Liesl Hall had 28 assists.
The Lady Jackets played their first home game Wednesday, September 3 against
St. Johns. Things did not get off to a great start as Caylin Lee landed
wrong after a hit and tore her ACL in one of the first plays of the game.
She will require surgery and will have to sit out the remainder of the
season. “We all hurt for Caylin. She’s an incredibly talented athlete and
was so smart and consistent for a freshman player. The growth we saw from
her this summer was amazing. I expect great things from her in the coming
years,” said Coach Tami Ellsworth. It took a few plays for Blue Ridge to
pull themselves back together after the injury, but they won games one and
two by scores of 25-28 and 25-14. After being ahead 8-1 and 18-12 in game
three the Jackets faltered and allowed the Redskins to come back and take the
third game 25-23. But they finished things off for the win 25-21 in the
fourth. “We lost our confidence in the third game and started making some
really silly errors. That seems to be our biggest obstacle at this point.”
Jamie had 19 kills and 3 blocks, Cami had 9 kills. Laina had 3 kills and 2
blocks and Jennifer Brevik had 6 kills. Liesl Hall had 34 assists. Libero
Anna Martin had 22 passes and 13 digs.
After playing a weekend tournament in Payson, the Lady Jackets returned to
regular match play against the Roadrunners in Holbrook. Blue Ridge won the
match in three games; 25-21, 25-23, 25-20. “I think we were still tired from
our long weekend of tournament play. We looked pretty dead out there but
were able to hold it together enough to take it in three.” Cami Williams had
an exceptional match with 18 kills. JamieLee London put in another solid
performance with 10 kills, Jennifer Brevik had 6 kills and Laina Boniolo 4.
Liesl Hall had 37 assists and 6 kills, and Anna Martin had 2 aces.
Blue Ridge Finishes Fourth at Payson Volleyball Tournament
The Blue Ridge Lady Jackets finished fourth in a field of 18 teams at the
Payson Invitational Tournament September 5-6. The Jackets finished first in
their pool after defeating Cesar Chavez, Mogollon, and Florence in two games;
splitting games with Coconino; and despite losing two games to Ganado. They
then split pool play-off games with both Payson and Safford to wind up seeded
number two for bracket play on Saturday. Blue Ridge started off Saturday
morning with a two-game win over Joseph City 25-22, 25-16. They then lost to
Payson 19-25, 17-25. In the loser’s bracket they matched up with Joe City
once again and won 25-17, 25-16. The Jackets fought out a tough one with
Flagstaff but lost 21-25, 25-17, 5-11. Payson won the tournament, with
Flagstaff finishing second and Safford third.
“This tournament was a great experience for us, allowing us to get a bunch of
playing time and experience for young players. We can see what we need to
work on and where we are hoping to improve but I am pleased with the
leadership and ability of my older girls to get the job done, and so excited
about the promise and talent of our young players. We had two freshmen and
three sophomores on the court with us and an injured freshman on the bench.
The future looks bright for Blue Ridge Volleyball,” said Blue Ridge Coach
Tami Ellsworth.
Stats for pool play Friday:
JamieLee had 37 kills, 3 blocks, 4 aces, and served 20 points
Cami had 17 kills, 1 block, 4 aces, and served 17 points
Liesl had 7 kills, 4 aces, 76 assists, and served 20 points
Laina had 19 kills and 6 blocks
Elizabeth had 4 kills, 3 blocks and 8 assists
Jennifer had 8 kills and served 2 points
Anna had 1 kill, 3 aces and served 23 points
Jessica had 1 ace and served 14 points
Gabby had 2 kills, 4 aces, and served 21 points
Kelci had 2 aces and served 13 points
Maddie had 2 kills
Stats for bracket play Saturday:
JamieLee had 36 kills, 3 blocks and 3 aces
Cami had 13 kills, 3 blocks and 1 ace
Liesl had 3 kills, 1 block, 4 aces and 57 assists
Laina had 7 kills and 11 blocks
Elizabeth had 2 kills, 6 blocks and 3 assists
Jennifer had 11 kills
Anna had 7 aces and 1 assist
Jessica had 5 aces
Kelci had 2 aces
Maddie had 1 block
Blue Ridge loses to Ganado
25-16, 25-15, 21-25, 16-25, 5-15
Blue Ridge let a two game lead slip away as they lost at home to Ganado on
September 11. The Lady Jackets were out to a great start and dominated in
games one and two, but lost confidence in the third and allowed the Hornets
to come from behind and win. Ganado continued to play better and better as
the match went on and finished strong to take the match.
“It was the strangest thing to witness. We got off to such a good start. We
were playing so well and Ganado just wasn’t. After two games we were all
confident that we would win. We were up 18-12 in the third and just started
to fall apart. There was a total shift in momentum as Ganado started playing
really well and we struggled to do anything right. Volleyball can be that
type of game,” said Blue Ridge coach Tami Ellsworth.
Stats:
JamieLee London had 1 ace, 14 kills, 12 digs and 5 blocks
Cami Williams had 4 aces, 14 kills and 18 digs
Liesl Hall had 1 ace, 36 assists and 19 digs
Jennifer Brevik had 5 kills, 4 digs and 1 block
Laina Boniolo had 4 kills and 2 blocks
Anna Martin had 1 ace, 1 kill and 18 digs
Elizabeth Porter had 2 digs and 2 blocks
Jessica Johnson had 9 digs
Kelci Tate had 5 digs
Blue Ridge loses to Safford
17-25, 23-25, 25-23, 21-25
Blue Ridge traveled to Safford to play the Bulldogs in a non-conference match
up on September 13. The match was close throughout, but Safford managed to
stay on top and earn the win. Blue Ridge played without libero Anna Martin,
who was unable to attend the game because of a funeral.
“We played pretty well. I think if we’d had just a little more umph in us we
could have won,” said Coach Tami Ellsworth. “We were kind of dead and slow,
and Anna brings a certain intensity to the team that we were lacking. On a
different day I think we could have won this one.”
Stats:
JamieLee London had 12 kills and 14 digs
Cami Williams had 1 ace, 12 kills, 18 digs and 1 block
Liesl Hall had 34 assists and 13 digs
Jennifer Brevik had 1 ace, 9 kills and 13 digs
Laina Boniolo had 5 kills and 2 blocks
Elizabeth Porter had 3 digs
Jessica Johnson had 1 ace and 7 digs
Kelci Tate had 2 aces and 8 digs
Blue Ridge wins 3A East Tournament
Blue Ridge hosted the 3A East Tournament on September 19th and 20th. There
were a total of nine teams in attendance: Alchesay, Blue Ridge, Chino Valley,
Ft. Thomas, Holbrook, Round Valley, San Manuel, Show Low and Winslow. All
teams played each other on Friday in round robin play which consisted of two
games to 21 and a 25 minute time limit. The teams were then ranked for
tournament play in a double elimination bracket. After round robin play the
teams were ranked as follows:
1. Holbrook
2. Winslow
3. Blue Ridge
4. Round Valley
5. San Manuel
6. Chino Valley
7. Show Low
8. Ft. Thomas
9. Alchesay
Holbrook made a very strong showing on Friday, losing only one round robin
game. “We had some good games and some not so good games at the beginning of
the tournament,” said Coach Tami Ellsworth of her Blue Ridge team. “I think
we kind of came in with a certain expectation and didn’t realize we were
going to have to work hard to achieve it. Holbrook and Winslow both played
us very tough and it took us a while to get our act together.” Holbrook and
Blue Ridge each won their first two matches to meet in the semi-finals.
Holbrook beat Blue Ridge in that match, sending them into the loser’s
bracket. Blue Ridge defeated Chino Valley to meet up with Holbrook once
again. This time Blue Ridge took the match, forcing one more match to be
played. Blue Ridge won 25-22, 25-11 to clinch the championship.
“It was a long weekend and everyone was tired by the end. We took a quick
break after the Chino match to get some food in our systems and focus on what
we wanted to do. The girls found their second wind and came out and played
tough and really stepped it up. We were all so proud of them. They did a
great job!”
Final results were:
First Place - Blue Ridge
Second Place - Holbrook
Third Place - Chino Valley
Stats for Blue Ridge for the championship game:
Blue Ridge wins 25-22, 25-11
JamieLee London (senior #5) - 7 kills, 2 blocks, 1 ace
Cami Williams (junior #10) - 8 kills, 1 block
Liesl Hall (senior #8) - 24 assists, 2 kills
Jennifer Brevik (soph #14) - 6 kills, 1 block
Laina Boniolo (soph #12) - 2 kills, 1 block
Blue Ridge defeats Alchesay
25-12, 25-8, 25-18
Blue Ridge played their first region match at home against Alchesay. The
Jackets came out hitting hard and serving tough, leading to a quick
victory. “We played two really well-executed games and then let up a little
in the third, but overall it was a good performance,” said Blue Ridge Coach
Tami Ellsworth.
Stats:
JamieLee London had 1 ace, 11 kills and 4 digs
Cami Williams had 13 kills and 7 digs
Liesl Hall had 32 assists and 4 digs
Jennifer Brevik had 3 aces, 6 kills and 3 digs
Laina Boniolo had 4 kills and 2 blocks
Elizabeth Porter had assists and 4 kills
Jessica Johnson had 3 aces and 4 digs
Anna Martin had 1 kill and 5 digs
Blue Ridge defeats Show Low
25-8, 25-13, 25-13
Blue Ridge played at home against Show Low on Tuesday night, earning the win
to make it 2-0 in region play. The Jackets and Cougars traded points in the
early going of the first game, but then Blue Ridge surged ahead and never
looked back. Freshman Jessica Johnson served an impressive 31 times with six
aces, and helped to earn her team 27 points. “We know that we are going to
have to play tough to earn some big region wins and we have really been
focusing on our own game and playing more consistently – trying to cut back
on the number of unforced errors we commit in a match. I thought we did a
good job of that tonight,” said Blue Ridge Coach Tami Ellsworth.
Stats:
JamieLee London had 1 ace, 11 kills and 3 digs
Cami Williams had 1 ace, 2 kills and 6 digs
Liesl Hall had 4 aces, 29 assists and 4 digs
Jennifer Brevik had 5 kills and 6 digs
Laina Boniolo had 6 kills and 2 blocks
Elizabeth Porter had 1 assist and 2 kills
Jessica Johnson had 6 aces and 5 digs
Anna Martin had 2 kills and 7 digs
Kelci Tate had 2 digs
Madison Cooley had 2 kills
Blue Ridge defeats Payson
26-24, 25-19, 25-19
Blue Ridge played at home against Payson, winning a big match in just three
games. Game one stayed tight throughout, with both teams trading points back
and forth for many lead changes and ties. The Jackets had the first chance
for game point at 24-22, but the Longhorns came back and tied it up at 24
all. Blue Ridge went on to win the next two points from there to close out
the game. The second game began much the same as the first and the teams
were neck-in-neck for the first twelve points before the Jackets started to
slowly pull away. They were able to put some distance between themselves and
Payson and win by six. In game three the Jackets jumped out to a 6-0 lead
right off the bat. In the second rotation they increased it even more, going
up 12-4. Blue Ridge had a commanding 19-7 lead when Payson mounted a
comeback and closed to within four to make the score 15-19. After allowing
the eight point Payson run, the Jackets settled down and took game three by
six points.
“We played really well, with the exception of our little melt down in the
third game. But luckily we had built up enough of a lead that it gave us
time to regroup and still get the win. We knew that Payson would be one of
our toughest 3A East games and it was so exciting to go out and play a great
match against them,” said Blue Ridge Coach Tami Ellsworth.
Stats:
JamieLee London had 16 kills, 2 blocks and 8 digs
Cami Williams had 1 ace, 8 kills and 2 digs
Liesl Hall had 2 aces, 28 assists and 10 digs
Laina Boniolo had 3 blocks
Elizabeth Porter had 2 blocks
Jessica Johnson had 2 aces and 6 digs
Anna Martin had 19 digs
Kelci Tate had 1 ace and 5 digs
Madison Cooley had 6 kills and 8 digs
Blue Ridge defeats Round Valley
25-11, 25-21, 27-25
Blue Ridge played a region match at home against Round Valley Thursday night
and came out on top, taking the match in three games. “We started things off
pretty well but then eased up and started to take the win for granted before
we had it earned. Luckily we were able to hold them off in the third game to
keep it from going four,” said Blue Ridge coach Tami Ellsworth.
Stats:
JamieLee London had 2 aces, 11 kills, 3 blocks and 8 digs
Cami Williams had 5 kills, 1 block and 15 digs
Liesl Hall had 4 aces, 2 kills, 24 assists and 5 digs
Laina Boniolo had 7 kills
Jennifer Brevik had 4 kills and 3 digs
Jessica Johnson had 2 aces, 1 kill and 6 digs
Anna Martin had 1 kill and 9 digs
Kelci Tate had 1 dig
Blue Ridge defeats Alchesay
25-12, 25-20, 25-23
Blue Ridge started their second round of region play on the road against
Alchesay. The Falcons played well but the Jackets took the match in three
games to improve to a 5-1 record in the region. “I think that’s the best
I’ve ever seen Alchesay play,” said Blue Ridge coach Tami Ellsworth. “They
were digging the ball well and really moving and talking on the court. We
did what it took to win, but played I know we are capable of doing so much
better than we have in our past few matches. We are going to work hard and
pick it up for our upcoming matches.”
Stats:
JamieLee London had 3 aces, 11 kills, 2 blocks and 12 digs
Cami Williams had 14 kills, 1 block and 8 digs
Liesl Hall had 2 aces, 1 kill, 31 assists and 14 digs
Laina Boniolo had 6 kills and 3 blocks
Jennifer Brevik had 3 kills and 7 digs
Jessica Johnson had 1 ace and 9 digs
Anna Martin had 1 kill and 16 digs
Madison Cooley had 2 kills and 2 blocks
Blue Ridge defeats Show Low
25-12, 25-16, 25-6
Blue Ridge played a clean match against Show Low to earn another region win
on Thursday. The Jackets controlled the game with tough serving from
JamieLee London, Liesl Hall and Kelci Tate, and were supported by strong play
at the net. “We had a total of 31 kills with only 6 hitting errors in this
match. This is a big improvement for us and we are hoping to continue with
this type of strong play as the season winds down,” said Blue Ridge coach
Tami Ellsworth.
Stats:
JamieLee London had 2 aces, 7 kills and 9 digs
Cami Williams had 4 aces, 8 kills and 6 digs
Liesl Hall had 4 aces, 4 kills, 23 assists and 4 digs
Laina Boniolo had 8 kills
Jennifer Brevik had 3 kills
Jessica Johnson had 2 aces and 1 dig
Anna Martin had 1 ace and 10 digs
Kelci Tate had 1 ace
Blue Ridge defeats Payson
19-25, 25-22, 18-25, 25-15, 15-8
Blue Ridge won a nail-biter on the road in Payson against a tough Longhorn
team. Payson got off to a great start with a 6-0 lead in game one. The
Jackets slowly inched their way up to make it a close game and took the lead
14-11 before allowing Payson to come back and earn the win. Blue Ridge
played a better second game and Payson struggled a little with unforced
errors. There were very few scoring runs and a lot of siding out in the
second game but the Jackets kept it together to come out on top. In game
three Payson took control right from the beginning and the Jackets had a hard
time getting anything going, but things turned around in game four and Blue
Ridge played very well while the Longhorns just couldn’t get things to go
their way. In the fifth and final game of the match the Jackets went up 3-0
and although Payson got close a couple of times they never took the lead and
Blue Ridge kept their composure to win the game and the match. “We didn’t
get off to a very good start at the beginning of the match but by the end of
the night we had our heads in the right place and played some great
volleyball. The girls did a great job of maintaining their composure and
playing a solid game five. We were all pleased at the end of the night,”
said coach Tami Ellsworth.
Stats:
JamieLee London had 16 kills, 5 blocks and 16 digs
Cami Williams had 9 kills, 3 blocks and 19 digs
Liesl Hall had 1 ace, 1 kill, 34 assists and 9 digs
Laina Boniolo had 8 kills and 8 blocks
Jennifer Brevik had 1 ace, 1 kill and 1 dig
Jessica Johnson had 1 ace and 7 digs
Anna Martin had 1 ace and 11 digs
Liz Porter had 5 blocks
Madison Cooley had 4 kills, 1 block and 3 digs
Blue Ridge defeats Snowflake
25-20, 25-19, 25-13
The Blue Ridge Yellow Jackets dominated the Snowflake Lobos to hand them
their first region loss on senior night in Pinetop. Game one was close
through the early going as Snowflake took the early lead but things were tied
back up at 7. Blue Ridge went ahead 9-7 and were able to hold onto and build
on their lead to win game one. Game two started off much the same with the
teams neck-in-neck for the first 11 points of the game. Snowflake started to
pull away and went up 14-11 but the Jackets tied things up again at 17. From
there Blue Ridge held Snowflake to just two more points to their eight to win
game two. In game three the Jackets were down 5-8 before going on a seven
point scoring run. They kept their momentum for the rest of the game and
closed things out with the twelve point win. “This was our best game so far
this year,” said Blue Ridge coach Tami Ellsworth. “We played aggressive and
fast, we hit hard and were consistent, we had some big blocks just when we
needed them, and we served and passed very well. But I think the key
ingredient to this win was our mental game. The girls were focused and
intense for the entire match. They didn’t dwell on their errors and they
played strong instead of timid. We finished up Tuesday night’s match against
Payson very well and we just seemed to pick up where we left off two days
ago. Our goal is to keep our play at this level for the rest of the
season.” This win puts Blue Ridge in a tie for first place in the region
with Snowflake. Each team has one more region match left. The Jackets will
travel to the dome to play Round Valley on Tuesday and the Lobos head to
Payson to finish off their region play.
Stats:
JamieLee London had 13 kills, 1 block and 6 digs
Cami Williams had 2 aces, 5 kills, 1 block and 5 digs
Liesl Hall had 2 aces, 2 kills, 26 assists and 13 digs
Laina Boniolo had 10 kills and 4 blocks
Jennifer Brevik had 5 kills, 1 block and 5 digs
Jessica Johnson had 1 ace and 3 digs
Anna Martin had 1 ace and 20 digs
Liz Porter had 2 assists and 1 block
Blue Ridge defeats Round Valley
25-13, 25-15, 25-15
Blue Ridge clinched their share of the 3A East Region Volleyball title with a
win in the dome Tuesday night. The Lady Jackets played tough and put a
strong finish on their regular season play. “We did a good job tonight.
We’re still working on our consistency, but we’re trying to do a little bit
more with our offense and we had some great kills too,” said Blue Ridge coach
Tami Ellsworth.
Stats:
JamieLee London had 1 ace, 10 kills and 4 digs
Cami Williams had 12 kills and 11 digs
Liesl Hall had 1 ace, 3 kills, 29 assists and 3 digs
Laina Boniolo had 6 kills and 2 blocks
Jennifer Brevik had 1 ace, 8 kills and 5 digs
Jessica Johnson had 5 digs
Anna Martin had 2 aces and 10 digs
Elizabeth Porter had 1 block
Blue Ridge loses to Wickenburg
22-25, 25-16, 12-25, 25-27
The number eight seed Blue Ridge matched up with the number nine seed
Wickenburg in the state volleyball playoffs on Friday. The score stayed
close throughout game one, with many ties and lead changes. The Lady Jackets
took a late lead at 20-17 but were unable to hold on as Wickenburg went up 23-
20 and ultimately won by a three point spread. In the second game it looked
like the Jackets were getting it together and Wickenburg suffered from
numerous errors, including a rotation error that cost them three points.
Blue Ridge won handily by nine points, but were then plagued by their own
errors in game three – committing 13 unforced errors compared to just two by
Wickenburg. The Lady Jackets started off the fourth game looking much as
they had in the third and were down early 5-12. They weren’t going to do
down that easily, however, and rallied back for the first chance at game
point when they went up 24-23. Wickenburg tied it up at 24, went up 25-24,
and then the Jackets tied it up again at 25. That proved to be as close as
it would get when Wickenburg had two kills to finish off the match. “It was
a disappointing end to what was really a pretty positive season. We got off
to a slow start this year and it was hard to know what to expect, but as the
season continued we improved so much and saw so much growth in our young
players,” said Blue Ridge coach Tami Ellsworth. “Then we got to state and we
looked like we did at the beginning of the season again. We played timid and
never really seemed to get our heads into the game. It’s hard on all of us
to put that kind of a finish on the season. We had big hopes for what we
could accomplish but I guess it wasn’t to be this year.”
Stats:
JamieLee London had 1 ace, 15 kills and 2 blocks
Cami Williams had 7 kills and 2 blocks
Liesl Hall had 32 assists
Jennifer Brevik had 1 ace and 4 kills
Laina Boniolo had 8 kills
Elizabeth Porter had 1 assist and 2 kills
Anna Martin had 1 ace
Kelci Tate had 1 ace
