By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Another easy win catapulted the Jacksonville Lady Red Devils to a 6-1 season record on Tuesday. This time, it was the Lutheran Lady Lions who were the unlucky challengers. Jacksonville took the match in straight games, 25-15, 25-9, and 25-12 for a home stand sweep.
It was the only match for Jacksonville during the week, and served as a primer for this weekend’s annual Harrison Parks and Recreation Tournament, which will include Greenbrier, Springdale, Little Rock Hall, host team Harrison and 6A-East Conference mates Mountain Home along with the Lady Devils.
At this point in the season, Jacksonville coach Melissa Reeves says that the only thing needed by her team is a few polishing touches.
“We need to fine tune a few things,” Reeves said. “We’ve been missing a few of our serves. That is something we shouldn’t be struggling with at this point, and it aggravates me to death when we do. Other than that, we just need to work on talking on the court; calling the ball. We’re pretty sure that the tournament will show us some stuff.”
The usual suspects took control at the front against Lutheran, with hitters ?Jessica Lanier and Vanessa Brown dominating the net for most of the contest. Brittany Harrison also got back into the mix against the Lady Lions after quiet performances last week against Robinson and Mills. Harrison had more kills in the Lutheran match than her last two matches combined, as the Lady Red Devils have begun to solidify a triple-threat up front.
The Lady Red Devils have become accustomed to winning at this point, but still marvel over the difference between this year’s Jacksonville team and that of one year ago.
“My kids were talking the other day,” Reeves said, “that at this point last year, we still had not won a single match. We went to the Harrison tournament last year without a win, so we’re pretty excited about how things have gone this year. We’ve played some tough teams, but we have Mountain Home, Jonesboro and Marion when we start conference, so we really won’t know everything until we get there.”
The Lady Red Devils will kick off the tournament in Harrison today with a 10 a.m. match against the host Lady Goblins.
Jacksonville will return Tuesday for its final non-conference match in a rematch at Mills. Conference play will begin Thursday for Jacksonville, with a home match against West Memphis.
