Mount de Sales takes down Central at home as volleyball season kicks off

The Mount de Sales volleyball team flexed their strength as the defending region champions, as the Cavaliers won three sets against the Central Chargers to earn their first victory of the season Monday night.

Mount de Sales won by scores of 25-11, 25-13 and 25-12 in the three sets thanks to the help of talented serves with multiple aces, strong defense at the net and consistency on the floor.

Cavaliers coach Shakira Daniel praised her team’s ability to bounce back from early losses suffered to start the season.

“The first two games that we had, we got beat pretty bad, so it was nice to come in and have a sweep through like this,” she said. “We played really well, and I’m proud of the team tonight. They put in the work, did what they needed to do.”

The Mount de Sales crowd was lively, too, especially considering the campus was hosting another event next door. Both teams chanted and chattered regularly, but the Cavalier crowd seemed energized for most of the evening.

The Chargers fought hard despite some large deficits, bouncing back from a 9-3 gap in the second set and a 7-2 in the third. 

Former Central and Valdosta State basketball player Jarfaith Jones, in her first year as head volleyball coach after she took over for now-assistant coach Tamara Bolston-Williams, liked the way her team played.

“It was definitely good to see that fight, especially from a very young team. We’re trying to teach them early that energy and effort goes a long way, and we’re trying to get them to buy into that… the better we respond to adversity, the better we’ll play,” she said. “It’s a testament that they’re trying to push through and fight through.”

Central already had one win on the year, a 2-0 victory over Jasper County as part of a doubleheader on Aug. 6, but anything the Cavaliers lacked in wins they made up for in their length on the court. They maintained a solid advantage at the net for the entirety of the contest with dinks, spikes and everything in between.

“Our next few games, (our opponents) do have some tough girls in the front row, so for us to be doing well with net play and taking care of business up there is really good,” Daniel said.

The Chargers put up a fight that Jones took as a positive after the game, even if her team couldn’t always keep level with the Cavs.

“We did a better job today of blocking at the net. Some of the stuff we need to get a lot better at is just coverage, once the blocks are made, making sure we have people to get that ball when it falls after we block the ball,” the Central head coach said.

A big part of Mount de Sales’ success was Sana’a Fordham, who delivered some high-velocity hits throughout the contest while pulling and contributed to some success up front.

“She’s a big piece for us,” Daniel said of Fordham. “At first it was iffy whether she was going to pull with us or not, but when she confirmed, it was a big ‘yes.’ She’s our go-to. If we need somebody to put the ball down, she’s the one we call on.”

Another standout for Mount de Sales was setter Julia Bonbrake, who Daniel said is a focal point of the entire squad.

“She’s our setter, she’s our captain and she is an anchor for us every game, I want to shout her out,” the coach said. “She’s the one that keeps our team together… anything I tell her to do, she’ll do it.”

The Cavaliers move to 1-2 on the year and will face Lee County, Rutland and Morrow next week.

“We have some tough games coming up, but there’s also region games down the line we’re really excited for,” Daniel said. “It’s nice to get the first win at home and get things rolling here.”

The Chargers play Dublin, Crawford County and Westside next and also sport a 1-2 record after the matchup and Mount de Sales.

“We can learn from this game. We’re growing fast, and volleyball is very new to Bibb County, so we’re just trying to grow the game and look forward to the schedule doing that,” Jones said. “Another game we always look forward to is ACE, because they have a similar style of play to teams like Mount de Sales. So we’re looking forward to the rest of the year and playing games like that.”