Jackson HS volleyball team preparing for tournament run
MASSILLON, Ohio — If you don’t know much about volleyball, Wake Up! Jackson senior Sydney Wake can enlighten you. She and her Polar Bear teammates this fall have rampaged opponents in and out of the Federal League en route to a sparkling 21-1 record. Wake’s 271 kills would set off any morning alarm. That computes to a 51.6 kill percentage, or a kill every other time the Gannon University recruit gets her fists on the ball. “That’s phenomenal,” says second-year head coach Mary Kate Agona. “That’s unheard of!”
And that’s just the beginning of Jackson’s success story, as Wake’s performance has put the competition to sleep. She is one of six seniors who have led the Bears to a perfect 12-0 Federal League mark and the league championship. Then there’s senior Kara Hepler, who has recorded 175 digs and 56 serving aces. Add in senior Leena Patibandla, bound for the University of Wisconsin next year, on a basketball scholarship. Patibandla has 232 kills. Junior Camden Dolan has totaled 490 assists, while defensively, sophomore Abbey Debevec has 50 aces and 233 digs.
Jackson has also received contributions from senior middle hitters Kaylee Evans and Nora Evanto, neither of whom played last season. Two other junior hitters are McKenna Weber on the outside and right-side hitter Olivia Hayes. Weber has 170 kills. Sophomore setter Mikayla Yockey has contributed 264 assists as the Bears prep for what should be a lengthy tournament trek.
Perhaps no better story could be told than the one involving senior Naudia Carson, who has returned after a bout last year with multiple sclerosis. “She has just been a phenomenal player for us,” praised Agona. “She contracted Covid and was later diagnosed with M.S. She went to Mexico to receive chemotherapy, so it’s amazing just to see her back on the court.”
As with most successful programs in any sport, Agona says there’s no one player who dominates the spotlight, rather a team effort from the time the Bears take the court. “We’ve never relied on just one player,” the coach noted. “It’s a balanced attack from all of our players. I also think Jackson has a culture that the community expects success from all of its athletes. I know with our team they put in the work to get better, and the practices are very competitive. You have to work hard here if you want to play.”
Agona is in her second season as head coach. She previously served seven years as an assistant to former coach Jeff Walck. “The previous coach, after Jeff had left, quit, and the school called me the day of our first match last year. I was coaching that night,” Agona recalled. “We can attack on any side. We are lucky and blessed, I guess that we don’t rely on just one or two players. We have a lot of talent this year.”
Aside from Patibandla, who also stars on the Jackson girls’ track team in the high jump and discus, Jackson’s team devotes nearly all of its athletic time to volleyball. The results speak for themselves. Unlike most schools, they play year-round in camps and in Junior Olympic volleyball. Jackson’s only blemish on an otherwise clean slate is a loss to Division II powerhouse Columbus Bishop Hartley. Agona cited a pair of wins this season over GlenOak as ones that convinced the team they had something pretty special going on. Who knows? With their talent and experience, maybe a state title is within their wake!
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