Clayton News Daily

Photo by Gabriel Stovall | The Jonesboro Lady Cardinals volleyball team won the Clayton County Volleyball Tournament Saturday at Jonesboro High School. Coach Paul Cook called it a “good first step” toward making a run in the upcoming region tournament.

JONESBORO — The Lady Cardinals volleyball team won its 13th consecutive Clayton County Volleyball tournament by notching a 25-22, 25-20, 2513 victory over Riverdale Saturday afternoon.

En route to the title, Jonesboro swept matches against North Clayton and Lovejoy and also played the Lady Raiders, who fought there way back from the loser’s bracket, in a qualifying match before meeting them in the championship set.

Jonesboro senior Kim Dawkins had 16 kills and two aces and Michaelle Smith recorded 15 kills during Saturday’s tourney games to lead the Cardinals who upped their record to 24-5 with the win.

First year head coach Paul Cook said was pleased with his team’s weekend success, but he also said he wants his team to stay focused on its broader goals.

“I think it’s a good first step winning this tournament,” Cook said. “But we’ve still got a long way to go.”

With region 4-AAAA’s tournament just two weeks away Cook said the Jonesboro has plenty to work on as it prepares to host Stockbridge and North Clayton Tuesday in the regular season finale.

“We’ve got to get ourselves better and more under control with our serves,” he said. “I feel very confident about our chances in the region tournament, depending on which team shows up. If we keep down our service errors, watch the line and our passes, we can beat any team we play.”

The Lady Cardinals remain one game behind Woodland (28-1, 6-0) for the region lead. The Lady Wolfpack will travel to region foe Upson-Lee to face the Knights and fellow region opponent Dutchtown on Monday.