Ever since dropping their first game of the season, the Navarre Lady Raiders ripped off 11 straight wins, including a four-set victory over Choctaw Tuesday night.
Story by Near Post Sports
They’re now ranked #9 in Florida’s class 6A, according to MaxPreps.
“Man, the girls just played great,” Raider head coach Ryan Davenport said. “Choctaw is legit. I’d say this is the first really, really, really tough match that we’ve faced that has multiple offensive weapons, especially Iyonnie (Sanford).”
Sanford, a junior for the Indians, is a big-swinging outside hitter who racked up 22 kills on the night. After a five-point loss in the first set, the Raiders defense adjusted to her and limited her impact on the game. One maneuver Davenport used was putting Kyra McKelvey — Navarre’s kill queen with 19 in the match — directly across the net from Sanford.
“Just having her there, even if she didn’t get a touch or a block very often, Iyonnie knew she was there. So, she had to adjust her swing. I think that helped the back-row defense,” Davenport said.
Sanford’s hitting percentage on the night was .277 on 65 attempts. Leading the defense in digs was Jaci Johnson, Navarre’s libero, with 23.
“It was a rush, because I just became a libero. So, I didn’t know I could dig a great hitter like that,” Johnson said. “It really boosted my confidence.”
Grace McAlister and McKelvey had big numbers of digs, 19 and 17 respectively. Those digs led to long rallies, which Davenport extolled as an important factor in the win.
“It was actually really fun. It gave us an opportunity to see going up against these bigger hitters that we haven’t seen before,” middle hitter Hailey Snider said. “Back row had some really amazing digs that helped set us up.”
The all-time record (at least going back to 2009) with Choctaw is 4-5 after this match.
“Navarre wanted to win more than we wanted to win, and that was the difference in the match,” Choctaw head coach Andy Faulkner said. “Give Navarre credit. They played really well. They played better than us defensively.”
The Lady Raiders are in the thick of their 2021 regular season, 12 games remaining. Next, they play at Booker T. Washington (7-1) Thursday. Looming on the weekend is a match against Crestview (0-8). And Tuesday, the girls travel up to Milton (4-4) for a rematch of the Raiders only loss so far.
All photos © 2021 by Stu Camp can be purchased in high resolution at https://stuartcamp.smugmug.com/
MacKenzie England goes to the floor for a dig.
Jaci Johnson bump-sets and attacker.
Amanda Dodson gets low on defense.
