Jan. 2, 2013 — This year’s high school volleyball season was a series of ups and downs for the East Carter Lady Raiders.
After finishing with a final record of 18-17, 2012 ended up being a year of adversity for East Carter. Battling through injuries, East’s girls won eight of their last 11 games.
Though the Lady Raiders fell short in their 16th Region semifinals matchup against Russell, there was still plenty to be proud of for the volley Raiders.
Recently, the Journal-Times’ sister paper, the Ashland Daily Independent named its picks for the top volleyball players in the area, and the East Carter program was one of six teams to see two of its players make the honorary list.
In recognition of the best players in the area, local coaches cast their votes for who they feel performed at an outstanding level on the most consistent basis throughout the season.
For the Lady Raiders, it was a story of youth, as sophomore outside hitter Jordyn Wiler and sophomore blocker/setter Whitney Gollihue were selected as First Team All-Area, securing their place among the region’s best.
Cross-county rival West Carter joined East Carter in the honorable mention department, with seniors Megan Centers and Amber Reynolds grabbing attention, along with East Carter senior Stephanie Gollihue.
Carter County’s neighboring county, 16th Region runner-up Rowan, saw the Lady Vikings garner achievements, with Jessica Mullins and Mckayla Ledord cementing their names on the All-Area team of 2012.
Sixty-third District winner Greenup County had a sophomore attain the Player of the Year title in Kymbria Williams.
Russell’s Darrell Adkins took home Coach of the Year, following a season in which his team reclaimed the 16th Region title, while making its return to the state tournament.
Grant Stevens can be reached at gstevensjournal-times.com or by telephone at 1-800-247-6142.
