In the athletics world, so much attention is given to high school athletics. But there is a whole world that is thriving at the middle school level. One such sport that’s thriving at Buford Middle School is the volleyball program. BMS has two volleyball teams, and their “A-Team” competed in the Gwinnett Middle School Volleyball Championship on September 14 at Parkview High School, taking home the championship trophy.
The “A-Team” which is comprised of 7th and 8th graders played six matches in one day against some really challenging teams. During the pool play, Buford beat Trickum Middle School, Greater Atlanta Christian, and Couch Middle School. In the knockout rounds, Buford’s speed proved too much for Pickneyville Middle School to handle and they fell in two sets.
Their next opponent, Brookwood Middle School, was a tall team that played well defensively except for covering tip balls. Buford adapted their plans and exploited Brookwood’s weaknesses. “Out of our 50 points from both sets,” said BMS Volleyball Head Coach Ethan Burke, “we scored almost half of those points off of tip balls,”
Their final match of the tournament was against a very formidable Mill Creek. Burke had scouted the team earlier in the day and knew they were the complete package. During their first set, Buford was down 7-2, so Burke called a timeout. He noticed that only one player, their libero, could receive a ball off the serve and get it to their setter. The team once again adapted and won their first set. Mill Creek would not go easy as they kept tying the score in the second set. Buford’s hitters Palyn Reid, Ally Wall, Alexa Flowers and Avery Manley had to mix up their hits to get points. The back row passers led by Amy Ragazino and Ella Jane Williams were key to helping the team add points as well.
Mill Creek and Buford were only a point apart when Buford needed the last point to win the set. Isabelle Cunnington would make her set off a great pass from Flowers. As Reid was about to strike, Burke noticed Mill Creek’s back row anticipate a hard hit so he yelled for Reid to tip it, which she did, scoring the last point for the win.
Coach Burke told the Voice, “Making adjustments while the ball is in the air is something only a few players in middle school can do and we have three girls with the capabilities of doing that.”
Burke credits the team’s coachability in making them a successful team. He added, “They all know their role when they are on the court and they depend on each other to do their part which leads to us being successful.” He is constantly telling the girls to “win the next point. It doesn’t matter what happened before, if we lost the point or set, correct your mistakes, and win the next point.”
Buford’s A-Team has an overall season record of 7-0 and 6-0 in the Gwinnett County Championship Tournament. The A-Team members are Alexa Flowers, Palyn Reid, Ella Jane Williams, Ally Wall, Isabelle Cunnington, Amy Ragazino, Berkley Clark, and Avery Manley.
BMS Volleyball will wrap up their regular season next week with two matches. On September 28, they will play in the Winder Area Tournament, and if they’re successful there, Buford will move on to compete in the North Georgia Area Tournament on October 5.
— By Alicia Couch Payne
