JV Clinches Championship, Varsity Gets Big Win

As hard as it is to believe, the 2023 volleyball season is coming to a close. The final matches of the season for Hayesville High School came on Thursday, Oct.13 in Murphy. There was a lot on the line as the varsity squad was hoping to head into the post-season with a win over their rival and the JV team had a chance to complete a second consecutive season without a Smoky Mountain Conference loss. Lucky for Jacket Nation, both goals were achieved.

Madison Moore

Things got off to a tough start for the varsity Lady Yellow Jackets as Murphy took a 1-0 lead following a 25-20 win in set one. Refusing to accept defeat, Hayesville flipped the script in the second set and recorded a 25-20 victory of their own.

The fight shown from the Lady Jackets seemed to rattle Murphy and Hayesville kept things rolling with a 25-14 win in set three to take a 2-1 lead. Not wanting to be in a winner-take-all fifth set, the Lady Jackets put together a strong performance in set four, winning 25-22 to get the 3-1 victory over their rival.

For the JV team, the target has grown bigger and bigger as all other SMC would love to be the one to end Hayesville's historic run. The Lady Bulldogs brought the fight to the newly crowned 2023 conference champs, but the Lady Jackets finished the drill by winning the opening set 25-17.

Set two was more of the same as Murphy tried to generate a rally throughout the stanza. Hayesville was able to bend but not break before putting together a 25-15 winning performance to take the match victory.

With the regular season now over, both turn their attention to the SMC tournament which will begin Saturday, Oct. 14 at Andrews High School. Brackets and times were unknown at the time of writing.