By Robert Wilson
Jackson Academy’s volleyball team gave their head coach Melissa Denson an early birthday present Thursday night.
Denson, whose birthday is Friday, was presented a win over defending MAIS state champion Madison-Ridgeland Academy by her Lady Raiders at MRA in Madison in a battle for first place in MAIS District 1 and in a rematch of last year’s state title game.
JA defeated MRA 3-1 (25-22, 19-25, 25-23, 25-20) to avenge last year’s loss to MRA, which ended a five-year run of state championships by JA.
JA – which has won nine state titles in the past 11 seasons – improved to 21-6-1 overall and 4-0 in district play. MRA dropped to 19-8 overall and 3-1 in district play. JA and MRA are the top teams in the district and the top two teams in District 1 and District 2 will play in the Division I state playoffs.
JA returns five starters, including 6-foot-2 junior outside hitter and Loyola Marymount University commitment Carson Caraway, who was named the MaxPreps Preseason Mississippi Player of the Year and Preseason All-American earlier this season. The other four returning starters from last year’s team, which finished with 30-16-3 record, are junior outside hitter Madelyn Rodrigue, junior setter Darby Horn, 6-2 sophomore middle blocker Kinsley Ables, and junior Libero Anna Holladay Craft.
“I’m really proud of my girls,” said JA coach Melissa Denson, who has won five state titles in her eighth season at JA and has a 273-63 record (an 81.3 percent winning percentage) at JA and a 312-90 record (a 77.6 percent winning percentage) in 10 career seasons, the first two at Clinton High. “We were down a starter and our team stepped in and they all did their job. It’s always an emotional game for both sides, and we have plenty of room for improvement, but their fight and determination truly made me proud. They have had a chip on their shoulder since the end of state last year and knew it was going to be a battle. Our group is more mature this year, which played a big role in helping them handle the pressure. Most of them have been there before. For us, the win was exciting and a great night but we have lots of volleyball left to play. I think it showed them that even on days we don’t play perfect, they have each other to lean on and someone different can step up to fill in areas we are struggling. They have faith in each other and are the best teammates.”
Caraway had 17 kills, 3 aces, 2 blocks and 11 digs, Rodrigue had 10 kills, 2 blocks, 1 ace and 9 digs. Senior opposite hitter Kinsey Williams had nine kills and four blocks. Freshman middle blocker Asia Lindsay and Ables had six blocks each and eighth grader Lorin Bass had four blocks. Craft had 15 digs. Horn had 2 aces, 24 assists and 5 digs. Junior Sarah Yung had 16 assists and 3 digs.
MRA – which is playing without 2024 Mississippi Gatorade Volleyball Player of the Year Falon Humphries for the first time in six seasons (freshman at the University of North Florida this fall) – return five starters from last year’s team, which finished 36-8 and gave MRA its first state volleyball championship in school history.
Junior pin hitter Emerson Dorr (daughter of MRA head coach Ross Dorr), senior pin hitter and Tennessee Tech commitment Selah Sandridge, seniors Reese Roundtree and Lily Sistrunk, 6-foot-6 senior middle and Southern Miss commitment Alyssa Dampier (daughter of former Mississippi State and NBA center Erick Dampier), freshman Libero Macy Gladden, and senior setter and Jones County Junior College commitment Kiera Hariel, a transfer from JA, are MRA’s top players.
“We definitely didn’t play our best, and let a lot of leads slip away from after making some costly errors we don’t usually make,” Ross Dorr said. “Our serve and receive was good and I think when we were in rhythm our hitting was good. We just gave away too many unforced errors and needed to capitalize on some of their mistakes and did not. We have a tournament this weekend where we will try to correct some of those issues. And hopefully we will be making adjustments with every game. We play from now to until the state championship tournament.”
