By Justin Fedich
The Selma Times-Journal

It’s not often a seventh-grader is the star of a varsity volleyball match. Keith Middle School’s Akese Jones showed Tuesday afternoon that age is just a number.

Jones’ strong serving led the Keith Bears (2-0) over the Southside Panthers (1-0) 25-18, 25-10, 25-23 in the Panthers’ gym. It was Southside’s first volleyball match in four years, and students were let out of the classroom early to fill the gym with support.

Despite a strong effort from a Southside team that just learned the game of volleyball over the summer, Keith’s young roster was able to hold strong in each of the three sets.

The Panthers were able to use the energy from the student body to jump out to an early lead in the first set. Southside’s Kamyra Glover, Janelle Williams and Amari Drane all earned points off their serve early on to take an 8-5 lead.

“I feel like they did well in front of the crowd,” said Southside head coach Samantha Henry.

Keith would quickly fight back, however. The Bears’ Alyshia Boone erased the deficit by winning four straight points off her serve to take a 9-8 lead. Shortly after, Laquisha James won two straight points to give Keith a 12-9 advantage.

Southside’s Maryann Gunn helped tie up the match at 13 points apiece, forcing Keith head coach Towanna Flennory to call a timeout. The Bears then grabbed hold of the set, taking a 20-14 lead due to strong serving from Kendra Jones and Llulissa Torres. Boone served her second ace of the match to take a 24-18 lead and closed out the set with her next serve.

The second set belonged to Akese Jones. After a back-and-forth start to the set, Jones stepped up to serve with a 12-10 lead. She stood tall under pressure and served 13 straight points to win the set 25-10.

“She’s going to be a great volleyball player,” Flennory said. “She’s very coachable. She will listen and she wants to learn. When you get a player like that, they will succeed.”

Keith’s Terkela Spicer helped the Bears to a 3-0 lead in the third set, but Southside wasn’t ready to give up just yet. With Williams serving, the Panthers climbed back from a 5-2 deficit to tie the set at 5-5.

The Bears would hold a lead until Williams stepped up to the service line again and fought Southside back from down 19-14 to tie the set at 19-19.

Akese Jones put the finishing touches on the shutout by winning the final point off her serve.

“In the last couple of days, we have put a lot of emphasis on them serving the ball, and [Jones] came in today and did a very good job with serving,” Flennory said.

Southside’s next match is at Monroe County Tuesday at 3 p.m. Keith will look to keep its undefeated record alive with a trip to Ellwood Christian Thursday at 5 p.m.