On Tuesday night, the P.K. Yonge volleyball team hosted a fundraiser for cancer awareness and honor one of their own, followed by a season sweep of visiting Eastside.
Between the junior varsity and varsity games, P.K. Yonge coach Chancie Vice and the Lady Blue Wave presented the family of Jeremy Martin with a check from the funds they raised to donate toward cancer research. Martin played football and basketball for the Blue Wave in the early 2000s, but he passed away from cancer on September 21, 2014.
“Philanthropy is a really big pillar of our program and having the opportunity to do something that is so close to home, I think is really valuable,” Vice said. “Being able to honor his mother and his niece, which is really special that she’s a part of our volleyball program and also show the girls that what you do matters, and the legacy that you leave here matters.”
The Lady Blue Wave (9-6) swept the Rams 25-11, 25-23, 25-23 to snap a 3-game losing streak.
“We definitely have some room to grow,” said Vice, whose older sisters went to school with Martin. “I’m glad we broke the streak. However, I do believe that there are stages…I think we got comfortable winning, and so tonight, I was proud of seeing that confidence come through in spurts, but it’s definitely something that we need to continue working on.”
P.K. Yonge jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead as junior Attalie Odom had back-to-back aces.
They would increase the lead to seven at 10-3 on an ace by senior Jaylee Fugate to cap a 6-0 run. Eighth grade outside hitter Ruby Hampton, the niece of former Blue Wave 2-time state champion and former Gator Marcie Hampton, had three kills during the run.
“Ruby is a generational talent,” Vice said. “She’s only in the eighth grade. She’s six-foot-two, but she has that mentality of the player who could go to the next level. She wants to win every point. She wants to win every game, and she wants the people around her to give 110% as well.”
The lead reached double digits, 14-4, on an ace by freshman Tiara Deleyrolle, who also ended the first game with an ace.
“She has beautiful hands, but again, very young,” Vice said. “Ruby’s in eighth grade, Tia’s in ninth grade. Everybody says the future is bright for PK. If we can retain these athletes, get other ones around them that have the same mentality of wanting to win every point, we really have potential growth here.”
In the second set, Fugate broke a 6-6 tie with a tap over the net from the middle for a 7-6 lead and her next kill made it 8-6.
“Jaylee has wonderful IQ,” Vice said. “I think that’s really valuable from a senior leader. She reads the court well whenever blockers pull up, and she decides to tip to that short four, so her IQ is very important to our team.”
Despite being outscored by 14 in the first game, Eastside was very much in the match in the final two sets. They were tied at 23-all in the second set and at 22-apiece in the third set.
“That’s one thing that we do work on; we don’t quit,” said first-year Eastside coach Barbara Hatch. “We start when the whistle blows and we stop when the whistle blows, and to give your best that you can throughout the whole entire thing.”
Eastside junior Taylor Flowers kept it close late with three kills as part of a 6-0 run as the Rams (3-5) turned a 22-16 deficit into a tie game at 22-all.
“She played great,” Hatch said. “She did all around. She stepped in when she was supposed to. She normally is not our setter, but she stepped in and she played her all around. Hustled, team effort, built them up when they got down and supported them really well on the bench and everything. So, very good player.”
The 6-0 run was on the heels of a P.K. Yonge 10-0 run.
Facing match point at 24-23, Hampton finished off the night with a kill to put P.K. Yonge back in the win column.
