The strongest point of Sheridan's volleyball team isn't at any one position or just one line. It's the chemistry "hands down," Coach Emily Grimmett said.
"They are their best friends," she said. "They get along. They hold each other accountable. They are definitely great athletes, but more importantly, they are great teammates."
Sheridan remained unbeaten on the young season with a 25-13, 25-8, 25-23 win at White Hall in 5A-South high school volleyball Thursday night. The Lady Jackets had to dig out of a 22-18 hole in the third set and take advantage of White Hall errors to finish the sweep.
"It is very hard to win that third set," Grimmett said. "You kind of get comfortable and think the night's over. We have four seniors, but they all don't have experience."
Those four seniors helped Sheridan (4-0, 2-0 in 5A-South) record a .206 hit percentage (38 kills to 18 errors). Lauren Arledge hit a team-high .357 (7 kills), while Kayden Porter totaled 12 kills and Addison Hill totaled 8 for the Lady Jackets.
Sunnie Davis set 37 assists and had 18 digs in the win. Mary Lem added 16 digs, Hill totaled 14 digs and Skylar Sterritt scored 7 kills.
White Hall (1-3, 1-1) and Sheridan were tied at 9-9 in the first set before Sheridan went on a 5-0 rally before a Lady Bulldogs' timeout. The Lady Jackets totaled 14 kills to the Lady Bulldogs' 10 en route to winning the set.
Sheridan dominated the second set with 12 kills and 6 aces, holding White Hall to 4 kills and an ace. In the third set, Sheridan racked up 13 kills to White Hall's 6 and overcame 14 hit errors to win.
The Lady Bulldogs went with what Coach Madison Back called "a massive change in personnel" and were just three points away from forcing a fourth set when a big spike by Sterritt started a rally for Sheridan that wouldn't be stopped.
"We put out an entirely new lineup to see if that would change chemistry, and it worked for us," Back said. "[Sheridan] did a very good job on defense and picking up a lot of balls. They did a good job putting really aggressive swings on us."
Grimmett said it took the right mindset for Sheridan to finish the sweep on the road.
"We're just getting better every day, but that is definitely difficult because you think, well, I just dominated somebody 25-8 and we're fixing to roll them. It's difficult to bounce back in the third set and just dominate now."