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Monday, Nov. 4 -- Grayson County defeated the Parry McCluer High School volleyball team 3-0 in the quarterfinals of the Region 1C tournament in Buena Vista.
Madey Phipps totaled 13 kills and six service aces as the Blue Devils (18-6) recorded a 25-22, 25-15, 25-18 victory. Karlie Hawks tallied 33 assists for Grayson, the No. 3 seed from the Mountain Empire District, while Savannah White notched 10 kills, four blocks and four aces, and Kinsey Parks also finished with 10 kills.
Kadence Zollman registered nine kills and two blocks for the Fighting Blues (15-12), who came in as the No. 2 seed from the Pioneer. Keely Mahaffey posted 16 digs, four kills, four blocks and four aces for PM, and Natalie Mohler contributed 11 assists, three aces and two blocks.
The first set was a seesaw battle, with the Blues assuming an early 7-6 advantage behind the strength of two Mahaffey kills and two Peira Conner aces. While the Blue Devils turned things around with an extended 10-3 stretch that featured four kills from Parks -- the junior posted eight of her 10 kills in the opener -- they struggled to shake PM.
Consecutive aces from Mohler and a block from Conner and Mahaffey knotted the score up at 17-17. But Grayson responded with a 6-2 run that made it 23-19, and -- despite a pair of late kills from Zollman -- the visitors held on for the 25-22 victory.
Slow starts from the Blues in both the second and third frames would prove costly. The Blue Devils jumped out to an 11-3 advantage in the second set, and -- after PM had used a pair of Zollman swings and two Mahaffey aces to claw back to within two at 13-11 -- they would put the stanza out of reach with a 9-2 spurt that extended the margin to 22-13.
In similar fashion, Grayson grabbed an 11-2 lead to start the third set. The Blues righted the ship and again put together a rally, trimming the deficit to 14-11 on another block from Mahaffey and Conner.
After the Blue Devils rebuilt their advantage, going ahead 22-14 on a kill from Adisyn Funk, PM used a Zollman kill, an Allie Cullen ace and a swing from Emory Slagle to cut the gap to 22-18. But back-to-back kills from Phipps -- who notched a half-dozen in the final set -- helped Grayson put the match away.
Conner finished with three blocks and two aces. Logan Vest tallied 10 digs and two aces for PM, and Cullen also chipped in 10 digs. Chasity Wilson served up three aces for the Blue Devils.
