State First Round: Heroes in West Jessamine’s Road Triumph

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Editor's Notes: Do you want to get in front of Prep Dig Scouts? This is one big way to do it. The annual Kentucky Exposure Tour in Wilder is Nov. 28. Click on this link to register:</em> <a href="https://events.prepdig.com/e/2489/register/prep-dig-exposure-tour-kentucky" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://events.prepdig.com/e/2489/register/prep-dig-exposure-tour-kentucky</a>. <em>For 25 percent off, type</em> ET26Mike25OFF <em>at checkout.</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This round put an experienced state tournament team on the road against a first-time state participant. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Things started off in favor of the hosts, but the experienced West Jessamine Colts figured some things out then held off a furious comeback in the fourth set from the Frederick Douglass Broncos in a 3-1 (23-25, 25-19, 25-23, 26-24) win. West Jessamine has won the 12th Region 10 of the last 11 years, but the Colts had not been to the state quarterfinals since 2023. They take on postseason nemesis Notre Dame at 5 p.m. EST on Friday at George Rogers Clark.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>West Jessamine (35-6 overall) saw [player_tooltip player_id='774738' first='Ava' last='Smith'] and [player_tooltip player_id='801517' first='Delaney' last='Dix'] dazzle in the back row making dig after dig so setter [player_tooltip player_id='755065' first='Taylor' last='Grace Snowden'] could set up the offense. That's when [player_tooltip player_id='603652' first='Ashlyn' last='Crutcher'], [player_tooltip player_id='851950' first='Kayla' last='Avent'], [player_tooltip player_id='523963' first='Dani' last='Long'] and even [player_tooltip player_id='505929' first='Kaylee' last='Rexroad'] and [player_tooltip player_id='938777' first='Harper' last='Goins'] made some big plays at the net.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"Kudos to Frederick Douglass. They fall apart and they got right back into this thing. They started serving us tough. We couldn't get anything on serve receive. We gave them a lot of free balls and they were putting them away," West Jessamine head coach Bill Bird said. "We were pretty fortunate on defense. We're pretty strong in the back row. I'm proud of my team. When the going got tough and Frederick Douglass made runs, we kept our composure. They didn't panic. They just stayed with the game plan and worked it out. I know the last two points were errors by them, but that's volleyball and we'll take it."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Frederick Douglass (21-7) had a lot of success when setter [player_tooltip player_id='611969' first='Jordan' last='McCrary'] put up nice balls to mainly [player_tooltip player_id='890370' first='Maryn' last='Dunham']. [player_tooltip player_id='776638' first='Shelby' last='Mays'] made some nice plays at libero with [player_tooltip player_id='535191' first='Urijah' last='Holman-Allen'], [player_tooltip player_id='804730' first='Ava' last='Henderson'], Lyla McMillin and [player_tooltip player_id='918929' first='Daleigh' last='Johnson'] helping the Broncos try to control the net. The Broncos could not get into rhythm consistently to make runs they had throughout the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>These players did a good job trying to lead the respective teams to the state quarterfinals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["801517"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":["override_image"],"_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":1059760,"_player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":"field_62f141137ead9","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6ae96618c80b4"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Teams generally try to hit away from liberos. That's where players like Dix come in for the Colts. Dix (pictured) made a number of hustle plays in the win. Dix uses a nice platform to dig up balls. She keeps a number of plays alive under control. Dix sends out of system balls back toward the net so hitters can send down balls across the net. Dix said communication goes a long way toward success in the back row and she said the trust that someone will dig it up and another will put the ball down is there.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["851950"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":["override_image"],"_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":1059773,"_player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":"field_62f141137ead9","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6ae9656aa0b5d"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Avent came through in the clutch for West Jessamine a number of times with quality swings. Avent pounds across hard four-to-four cut shots and tools blocks. Avent quickly bounces back from mistakes and paints side lines on nines. Avent tips away from opponents and does not stop swinging even after getting blocked. Avent said diversifying an offense is important in terms of keeping opponents on their toes at all times. Avent credited the team for taking tough angles, hit to open spots and make the Broncos move in the win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["774738"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":["override_image"],"_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":1059774,"_player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":"field_62f141137ead9","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6ae9656aa0bfe"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Smith consistently brings great energy to the court. She uses a good platform to dig up balls. Smith is sound on defense and serve reception. Balls may be headed down, but Smith flies over and gets her arms under them to keep plays alive. Smith even skims the net for quick points on her serves.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["603652"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":["override_image"],"_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":1059775,"_player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":"field_62f141137ead9","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6ae9656aa0c5c"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Off the court, Crutcher does a good job keeping her teammates loose in different ways. On the court, she goes into beast mode. Crutcher made her usual plays on defense and took hard swings mixed in with some nice tips. However, her serving played a big role in the win. Crutcher aggressively sent some tough deep balls to keep Frederick Douglass out of system and help the Colts build a 9-3 lead in that fourth set. Crutcher also recorded some timely blocks in the win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["890370"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":["override_image"],"_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":1059761,"_player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":"field_62f141137ead9","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6ae9681077051"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Dunham left everything on the court in the loss for the Broncos. Dunham gets on top of balls and puts them down with a high attack point. Dunham can take soft and hard swings from the back row on pipe plays. Dunham controls the net in different ways. Dunham comes in off fakes and pounds balls down on ones with a great downward trajectory. Dunham bounces back from mistakes quickly. Dunham hustles after balls and does a good job tooling blocks.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["776638"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":["override_image"],"_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":1059763,"_player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":"field_62f141137ead9","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6ae9687ecb985"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Mays had a huge pancake dig to help the Broncos earn a point. Mays reads hitters well and tries to set her feet up to beat balls to their destinations on the floor. Mays brings great leadership to the court. Mays does not give up on balls and makes quality out of system sets.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Note from Writer</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mike Graham has been writing for Prep Dig for two and a half years and has enjoyed getting to know the volleyball scenes in Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee. If you liked the story, please copy and paste to X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook. You may also follow us at @<a href="https://www.instagram.com/prepdigkentucky/#">prepdigkentucky</a>, @<a href="https://www.instagram.com/prepdigtennessee/#">prepdigtennessee</a> or @<a href="https://www.instagram.com/prepdigoh/#">prepdigoh</a> on Instagram in addition to @PrepDigKy, @PrepDigTN or @PrepDigOH on X. If you feel someone in Kentucky, Tennessee or Ohio needs coverage or even have feedback on the Kentucky or Tennessee rankings, please email Mike at michaelgraham@prepdig.com. You may also follow him on X @GMCgrah or Instagram @g.michaelgraham. Subscriptions give you access to exclusive content. For a 30% discount on yearly subscriptions, enter code graham30 at checkout.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->