The Statesboro Blue Devil volleyball team recently completed their best regular season in school history, and capped that off by winning their second straight region title this past weekend. The Blue Devils are currently 30-6 on the season, and will host the opening round of the state Class-AAAAA tournament Saturday night.
“Winning the region was our goal at the beginning of the year,” said Statesboro coach Bob Massee. “As a coach when you see the girls reach their goal, it’s a proud moment. Their ability, and willingness to fight has been there all season long.”
“We have now won back to back region championships,” Massee said. “Setting that standard is pretty special, as we haven’t been playing for too long here, and to make a name for ourselves at this early stage is something special.”
The Blue Devils are led by a pair of seniors, and a pretty talented sophomore. Coach Massee praise the leadership of seniors Alaina McDonald, and Jordan Palmer, as well as the play of sophomore setter Macia Defitorium.
“Jordan and Alaina have really stepped up as leaders this year,” Massee said. “They put together off season workouts themselves, and they are definitely my coaches on the court. They have done a great job on and off the court.”
“Our plan this year has been to be defensively sound, fight for every ball, and try to stay within the realms of what we can do,” Massee said. “If we aren’t going to be a powerful team, we need to be consistent enough team to take away what other teams are trying to do to us. I think we’ve been good on defense and passing, and we have developed a speedy offense as the season has progressed.”
This weekend the Blue Devils open up the state by hosting a couple of games. They will play at 7:00 against Dutchtown, prior to that Loganville and Grady will play at 5:00. The state volleyball usually plays the first two rounds on the same day, and teams then advance to the elite eight, but the Blue Devil cheerleaders are hosting a competition Saturday, so the winners from Saturday will then come back on Tuesday to see who advances to the quarterfinals.
“The GHSA says we can play the first and second round on the same day, and that really helps with travel,” Massee said. “The cheerleading competition was set a long time ago, so we are having to split it up, but that shouldn’t be a big deal.”
The Blue Devils open up against Dutchtown. The Bulldogs come in with an impressive record of 23-8. They play out of area four where they led for most of the season, but ended the year with three straight losses and come in as the number four seed.
“We open with a pretty good team in Dutchtown,” Massee said. “I have heard they are scrappy, and they don’t quit. They played pretty well for most of the season, but hit a losing streak for some reason here at the end of the year.”
The opening round of the state at Statesboro High will take place on Saturday. Loganville and Grady will play at 5:00, and then Statesboro and Dutchtown will play at 7:00.
