Jones Senior volleyball on verge of program-record win total as it hosts historic playoff match

TRENTON - Jones Senior volleyball has a chance Saturday to add another defining chapter to its turnaround.

The Trojans, 9-12, will host Oxford Prep at 1 p.m. in the first home playoff match in program history. A victory would give Jones Senior 10 wins — the most in school history, according to MaxPreps records dating to 2007.

It is rare territory for the Trojans. Jones Senior has reached the postseason only three times in the available MaxPreps history: the 2015-16 team went 6-9 before falling at Louisburg in the first round; last season’s 9-12 squad won its first-round match at Hobgood Charter before losing to Falls Lake Academy in the second round; and now this year’s group has matched that nine-win total with a chance to make more history.

For coach Jamie Harper, the moment is the product of a program steadily gaining traction. Harper’s teams have won 25 games over the past four years, an impressive rise after Jones Senior won only seven games in the previous seven seasons.

“I’m really excited,” Harper said. “They’re super excited too.”

The home playoff match was not assured. Jones Senior sat on the postseason bubble as RPI projections shifted, leaving the team to wait for confirmation before Harper could share the news. When the final bracket made the home match official, it fulfilled one of the team’s major goals.

“Last year was huge because it’s the first time in 10 years we made it,” Harper said. “A home game — that was one of our goals this year. We knew that had never happened before.”

Jones Senior set three objectives entering the season: return to the playoffs, earn a home match and eclipse last year’s win total. The Trojans have already accomplished the first two. Saturday offers the opportunity to complete the third.

The record alone does not tell the whole story. Jones Senior opened with seven wins in its first nine matches, including three-set wins over Sallie B. Howard, Hobgood Charter, Washington Montessori, Kinston and Arapahoe Charter. Coastal Plains 1A/2A play brought a difficult stretch against larger, experienced opponents, but Webb said the Trojans remained competitive and continued to play with purpose.

“We hung with them,” Harper said. “Sometimes in the first couple of years of me coaching this group, that may not have been the case. They always worked hard, but over the years, we’ve gotten to where we’re hanging with them.”

That competitiveness has become the team’s calling card. Harper jokes that her relatively undersized group is a “little swarm of shrimp,” but the Trojans have made up for a lack of height through serving, defense and relentless effort.

“We’re not going to overpower them with our hits,” Harper said. “We’re not tall. We can’t jump that high like some of the other teams that we play up against. We’re going to have to be not traditional if we’re going to win games. That’s going to mean you’ve got to cover the floor, you’ve got to serve well and you’ve got to lessen your mistakes.”

The production backs that formula. Senior libero Harper Woolard has recorded 419 digs, or 6.5 per set, while adding 49 aces. Sophomore Peyton Lucas has 267 digs and 48 aces, while junior Kynlee Whaley has posted 219 digs, 46 kills and 41 aces.

Sophomore Skylar Anderson leads Jones Senior with 109 kills and 87 aces. Senior Alondra Hernandez Martinez has added 47 kills and 43 aces, and junior middle hitter Toriana King has nine blocks.

Harper believes the most meaningful change is the team’s belief in itself.

“The girls finally bought into the fact that they can do it,” Harper said. “We went from, ‘Oh gosh, here we go again,’ to, ‘Hey, no — let’s go out there and see what we can do. We’re going to make it hard for them.’”

The momentum reaches beyond the varsity roster. Jones Senior’s junior varsity team recorded the most wins by a JV volleyball team in school history this season, according to Harper, while splitting matches with Pamlico County, Northside-Pinetown, East Carteret and Southside.

“It gives me continued hope for the future,” Harper said. “They’re competing against the girls they’re going to be competing against for the next two, three, four years.”

For now, though, the focus is Oxford Prep and a home gym ready for a first. The Trojans may not know their opponent as well as they would like, but Harper believes their schedule has prepared them for the moment.

“We know how to do what we do,” Harper said. “We’ve played against tough competition all season. Use what we’ve learned there Saturday and hopefully hope for a good outcome.”

A win would be more than an advance in the bracket. It would give Jones Senior its first 10-win season in the MaxPreps era — and another landmark for a program that is no longer simply hoping to compete.