HONAKER (Sept. 1, 2026) – The struggle continues for Honaker volleyball. The Tigers fell to Twin Springs 3-1 on Tuesday at A.P. Baldwin Gymnasium. Sophomore hitter Meadow McConnell proved too much to contain, and the Titans notched an impressive 25-15, 25-9, 20-25, 25-17 victory.
McConnell pounded 28 kills and also led the Twin Springs (5-2) defense with 37 digs.
“Meadow works her butt off,” Twin Springs coach Rob Tiller said. “She spent most of July and the summer really getting in shape physically, getting her vertical up a little bit, and just being really dedicated to the process of getting better.”
The Titans are off to a strong start. Their only two losses are to powerhouses Wise Central and Ridgeview in a tournament at Virginia High.
“We’ve played a pretty tough gauntlet in the last week or so,” stated Tiller. “We played two regular games last week, then an all-day tournament on Saturday, and then we came back in and played Monday and tonight. So, we’ve played a lot of volleyball over the last seven days. We had a little bit of tired legs tonight, but as a whole, I thought we played pretty well.”
Twin Springs was tough all over the floor. Bella Lawson directed the offense, dishing out 39 assists. Ava Davis (nine kills, eight digs) and Abby Davis (four kills) helped McConnell at the net.
Even when the Tigers had a spike, it was hard to get it on the floor. Natalie Greear (11 digs) and Ana Lopez (six digs) helped McConnell on the back line.
“That’s something we’re putting a little pride into this year,” Tiller noted. “We feel we can be strong defensively. We’ve got a lot of good DSs (defensive specialists) and liberos back there. Addi Counts, Ana Lopez, and Nat Greear all play their butts off defensively. And when you keep the ball off the floor, you always give yourself a chance offensively.”
Honaker tied the first set three times early but never took the lead. In set two, the Tigers scored the first four points and held an 8-6 advantage until Twin Springs scored 19 of the last 20 points.
Honaker had a solid effort and won the third set.
“We have moments when the girls take initiative and get work done,” said Honaker coach Lindsey Marshall. “When they play well, I believe we can play with anybody. So, we’re working on maintaining that rhythm throughout the match and, mainly, on ourselves.”
The Titans pulled away in the fourth set to get the win.
“We’ve got (hitter) Cadence Rose out, and we rely on Katie a lot,” Marshall said. “Katie’s a workhorse for us. In the last two games, we’ve had completely new rotations. We’ve never run them before. We’ve just got to find our rhythm, and the girls have just got to start playing from point one to 25.”
Ava Keene led Honaker with five kills. Kyndall Miller, JuJu Farmer, and Shalee Sykes each contributed three kills.
It was the fourth consecutive loss to start the season for Honaker (0-4).
“We’re definitely young,” commented Marshall. “I do think it gets in their heads a lot. We’ve also been working on being headstrong this season. We’re still trying to gel. We’ve got five new players who came up from JV. Everybody’s still working on getting together. We’ll get there. It’s just going to take some time.”
Does Twin Springs have high hopes in the Cumberland District?
“I do. I think we can finish somewhere near the top,” declared Tiller. “You don’t ever want to predict things. There are some good teams in the Cumberland. J.I. Burton, Rye Cove, and Eastside are all going to be good as well. We’re just going to take it night in, night out and see where things take us. I think we’ve got a good chance at some success.”
