HANCEVILLE, Ala. – Wallace State’s 20th-ranked volleyball team remained perfect this season with a pair of wins Sunday against Coastal Alabama-East and Northwest Mississippi Community College.
The Lions are 8-0 overall and 5-0 in Alabama Community College Conference action.
In the 25-9, 25-16, 25-16 win over Coastal Alabama-East, Harlee Kate Reid had 11 kills and five digs for Wallace State, while fellow sophomore Anna Renshaw registered 10 digs and seven kills.
Savannah Rutledge finished with 38 assists, eight digs and three kills for the Lions, Temperance Chatman had 19 digs and Mattrice Harris added 10 kills and three blocks. Tori Walker had five digs and three kills and Haven Hall five kills.
Against Northwest Mississippi (25-11, 25-15, 25-10), Reid had 17 digs and 12 kills, Renshaw had 10 digs and five kills and Rutledge added 37 assists, five digs and four kills.
Chatman racked up a team-high 30 digs, Harris finished with 10 kills, Walker had eight digs and two kills, and Hall notched seven kills.
Reid leads the conference with 83 kills, including 3.61 kills per set. Harris (82) and Renshaw (68) are second and third respectively in the conference in kills.
Harris leads the ACCC with a .579 hitting percentage, Chatman is tops in the conference in digs (129) and Rutledge in assists (254).
Wallace State continues conference play at Gadsden State on Thursday. The Lions return home Feb. 28.
Renshaw discusses Wallace State’s fast start to the season:
Wallace State softball sweeps weekend doubleheader
Wallace State’s 14th-ranked softball team defeated Pearl River (Miss.) CC and preseason No. 2 Chipola College on Sunday, moving to 4-0 on the young season.
Wallace State had 10 players register at least one hit in the 10-1 victory over Pearl River.
Sophomore Brantly Bonds was 3-for-3 with a double, three RBIs and two runs scored, Felicity Frame was 2-for-2 with two runs scored, Madisen Adams had a pair of hits, including a double, and Erin Chambliss contributed two singles and had an RBI.
Freshman Gracie Benton tallied her first collegiate homer, Kelsey McPeters had a single and two RBIs and Morgan White and Andrea Harbin each had a double. Jaiden Farnetti and Abigail Beech added a single apiece.
Sophomore Haylee Folds (2-0) was the winning pitcher for Wallace State. She struck out seven hitters over four innings, allowing only one run on two hits.
In a 5-4 win over Chipola, Wallace State surged to a 5-0 lead in the early innings and withstood a late rally.
Benton slugged her second homer of the day and Morgan White added a three-run blast for the Lions.
Frame and Bonds each had multi-hit games and McPeters had a single and scored a run.
Josie Thompson (2-0) was the winning pitcher.
Wallace State coach A.J. Daugherty, in his fifth season, believes his team can rely on its depth both in the lineup and on the mound in 2021. Through a small sample size, Wallace State’s pitching staff has yielded only six runs in four games this season.
“I expect our pitching staff to be a strength. We have seven pitchers who are all capable of winning games for us. Our lineup has the capability to have a lot of firepower. We should have pop in the middle,” Daugherty said. “We learned last year (through the pandemic) to never take a day or inning for granted. The season is a marathon, not a sprint, and we must see which ingredients give us the best chance to win. We’re constantly working to see where all the pieces fit into the puzzle.”
Wallace State welcomes Wabash Valley College to Bobby McCracken Stadium on Wednesday at noon for the home-opening doubleheader. It was originally scheduled for Thursday.
For more information about Wallace State athletics, visit www.athletics.wallacestate.edu or the athletics Facebook page at www.wallacestate.edu/athleticsfb.
