Jones gets win over Giants for birthday

By Tom Sadler Correspondent
Published: September 18, 2008

Wilson’s Taijha Jones got a nice birthday present from her teammates defeating Waynesboro 25-15, 24-26, 16-25, 20-30 on Thursday.
The Green Hornets started strong but loss the second game in a close battle, then rallied to take the next two games for the match and a present for their teammate.
The Little Giants had their hands full in Game 1 with strong play from Noël Bartley, helping lead the Hornets to a big lead. Bartley started the rally with a kill followed by an ace to run the score up to 17-9 before a kill from the Little Giants’ Callie Ownes broke the spell.
Waynesboro’s Rachel Binda help cut Wilson’s lead to five but it wasn’t enough as the Hornets struck back to run the lead up to 10 points to finish the game.
Game 2 saw the lead see-saw throughout. As points were traded back-and-forth, the momentum seemed to gather for another Wilson victory. Waynesboro’s Jolie Dudley stepped to the service line with the Giants down by three at but when she finished the Giants had tied the match with a 26-24 win.
Game 3 saw more strong play by the Hornets. This game was an unpleasant repeat of the first for the Giants as the Hornets settled into an ever-increasing lead. Bartley’s strong play was supplemented by Kala Guy’s aggressive attacks in the middle of the game gave the Hornets a 10-point cushion that was cut by one as the game ended.
“We are still a young team, we have to keep moving and working harder on our defense,” said Waynesboro coach Lori Aleshire.
In Game 4 the Giants came back to the court with the determination they lost in Game 3. Each team traded points but the Hornets slowly edged ahead behind the sharp play of Guy. Waynesboro’s Heather Sutton added key points near the end but they were not enough as the Giants held on for the final win.
“They all have a certain job to do, and Taijha had a good game, today was her birthday. They all played really well,” said Wilson coach Kim Claytor
Wilson travels to Riverheads Tuesday and Waynesboro will host Harrisonburg.