Lady Bengals Wrap up Winning Road Trip

The Blythewood Lady Bengals volleyball team was on a roll last week, taking to the road for two tough non-region games. On Sept. 5 they defeated White Knoll in Lexington 25-23, 25-17, 19-25 and 25-15. Abreia Epps and Meredith Jones led the way with 18 and 16 kills respectively. BiJonae Jones and Gabriela Martinez were a dynamic duo setting the ball. BiJonae Jones led the way with 20 (zero errors) and Martinez chipped in 18. Martinez had a team high 10 digs with Epps adding eight and Di’Ahrah Hall rounding out the top three with seven.

The very next day, the Lady Bengals beat a seasoned Aiken team, in Aiken, 25-23, 19-25, 25-23, 21-25 and 15-8. Meredith Jones served a game high eight aces and her 20 kills led the team along with Epps. Martinez led all players with 42 assists. Three Blythewood players recorded double digits in digs with Martinez’s 18 leading the way; Hall added 14 and Tara Gianopulos rounded out the trio with 10.

After two tough road games, the Lady Bengals continued their stretch away from home with the Hillcrest Tournament Saturday in Simpsonville. The tournament could not have started any better for Blythewood as they swept all four of their games in pool play 2-0.

Lady Bengals head coach Mary Hall was extremely proud of her team’s play.

“People were coming from other gyms and poking their head in just to see Blythewood play,” Hall said. “The girls were phenomenal. They dominated and made their presence known.”

After prevailing in pool play, Blythewood stumbled in the gold round match against T.L. Hanna, losing 25-21 and 27-25. Blythewood was the fifth team out of the total 30 in the tournament. During tournament play Epps and Meredith Jones were the one-two punch in kills recording 34 and 28 respectively. Martinez led all Lady Bengals with 62 assists. In the senior class, Martinez is the number one setter in the state averaging 6.8 assists per game. Epps and Meredith Jones are ranked seventh and eighth in the state with 3.6 and 3.4 kills per game. For her efforts in the Hillcrest Tournament Epps was named first team to the all-tournament team.