December - Giles High School

Varsity Volleyball CHAMPS! By Devin MooreAlex HawksThis year, the Lady Spartan Varsity Volleyball Team was talentedenough to make it to the region and state tournaments. The girls suffered aloss against Glenvar on November 1st, but redeemed themselves at theRadford game on November 5th, with scores of 24-26, 25-15, 25-11, 21-25, and 15-11. On November 7 th , the ladies traveled to PH Glade Springsto play in the Regional Semi-finals, where they won with scores of 25-9,25-23, and 25-17. They continued on to play James River on November8th for the Region Championship, something that hasn’t happened since1991! We brought home a victory in five games with scores of 25-11, 25-15, 23-25, 23-25, and 15-12. The Quarter Finals were played onNovember 13 th against Central. A victory was accomplished in threegames with scores of 25-14, 25-23, and 25-21. The team then traveled toRichmond on November 15 th to compete in the state tournament againstStuarts Draft, something that has never been accomplished by a volleyballteam here at Giles before. The season ended with an intense five set gameon the 16 th , but everyone in the community was still proud of everythingthe team had accomplished, especially Coach Matlock. She commented, “Iam extremely proud of this season and this group of girls! We havedefinitely made history this year and put Giles on the map for volleyball.This team came together and peaked just at the right time. We were facinga team of 10 seniors and that had been to state 8 times and won it 3 times,so I couldn't have asked for a better performance of these girls! Of courseit was overwhelming for them to be at the state semi-finals, but once theycalmed their nerves they were ready to play. I know next year we will beback and will be less nervous and will hopefully have a differentoutcome!!”Congratulations to Coach Matlock for being named Coach of theYear for Region C Division 2, and to Alex Hawks for being namedRegion C Division 2 player of the year. Alex said, “Being namedRegion Player of the Year is something I never would’ve expected.It’s such an honor, and I never would’ve been able to do it withoutall of my great coaches.”Left: The school congratulates the team for going to quarter finalsby cheering for them in the hallway.Kara Lilly, Beth Stump, Marinna Dowdy, Maggie Boggess, andMichaela Ratcliffe (front) Alex Pennington, Victoria Belcher,Olivia Steele, Alex Hawks, Courtney Estep, Emily Harless, andKarli Beechler (back) before the Quarter Finals gameAlex Pennington20