By Bru Nimmons
Sports Editor
bnimmons@thepccourier.com

PICKENS — One year removed from dropping its first region championship in over a decade, the Pickens High School volleyball team looked to reclaim the Region 2-4A championship against Daniel last Thursday.

Despite dropping their first set in the entirety of their unbeaten region run, the Blue Flame were able to take care of business against the Lions pulling out a 3-1 win to secure the region crown.

“It means everything to these players,” Pickens head coach Mellie Crumpton said. “This was one of our goals and we just talked about in the huddle after the match, ‘Goal #1 is there’ so now we can add another up to that wall and that banner.”

The Blue Flame came out of the gate strong building an early lead in the opening set. Daniel tried to battle back, but Pickens never gave up its lead as Lily Clarkson (Three kills, five assists, two aces) and Kaci Gillespie (four kills and three assists) put together a masterful set to allow the Flame to take the opener 25-17.

The Lions responded in the second set taking control with a block from All-State middle blocker Zara Russell. This time, it was the Lions who maintained control throughout the set with libero Ava Ross throwing herself all over the floor to showcase her defensive prowess, while outside hitter Anusha Venayagamoorthy found her groove with six kills as the Lions took the set 26-24.

Having dropped their first set in region play, the Blue Flame came back in the third with a dominant effort in the third set, taking it 25-17 to build a 2-1 lead.

“We knew it was going to be a fight,” Clarkson said. “We knew what we had to do and I think we executed really well.”

The Lions found even more trouble to start the fourth set with setter Maleah Gibson going down with an injury early but stayed close by trailing 17-15.

The Blue Flame finished strong with Gillespie picking up a kill as well as two aces to help the Flame get to match point. There, she assisted Clarkson for the final point as the Blue Flame took the set 25-18 to secure the 3-1 win.

While disappointed with the loss, Daniel coach Hayley Hoover was still encouraged by the play of her team in the loss.

“We had a lot of great moments tonight, we just had a really hard time stringing them all together and getting on some runs,” Hoover said. “We’re going to tighten up a few things and focus on finishing region strong next week.”

The Lions were set to finish region play with matchups against Blue Ridge and Greer at home this week, while the Blue Flame hit the road for region matchups against Seneca and Travelers Rest.

The Class 4A state volleyball playoffs are set to begin on Oct. 22.

t to begin on Oct. 22.