HANCEVILLE, ALA. – Wallace State volleyball coach Randy Daniel reached the 500-win mark over the weekend, and the 17th-ranked Lions clinched their 13th straight Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC) regular-season title.
The Lions racked up five match wins in their annual Wallace State Bash and added a pair of conference wins at Southern Union on Sunday, improving to a perfect 27-0 overall and 12-0 in ACCC play.
Wallace State volleyball has thrived this spring, after the season was pushed back to this semester because of COVID-19 precautions.
“Great leadership from your sophomores is always a key in junior college athletics. You have to depend on their experience. This team worked extremely hard in the fall to prepare for the spring season, just hoping we would get to play,” Daniel said. “I’m happy with their leadership and their ability to stay focused and disciplined on and off the court.”
Daniel became the program’s all-time winningest coach in 2013, and he continues to add to the win total. In his 14th season, Daniel maintains a 502-101 record with the Lions, leading Wallace State to 14 regular-season titles, 10 conference titles and 10 appearances at the NJCAA Division I National Championships.
Daniel, the 2019 ACCC Coach of the Year, has coached nine ACCC Player of the Years, 10 ACCC Tournament MVPs, one NJCAA 1st-team All-American, three NJCAA 2nd-team All-Americans and seven NJCAA Honorable Mention All-Americans.
“We have to recruit players who want to work hard and love putting the Wallace State uniform on. Each volleyball team here gets compared to the ones in the past, and I think that’s the mark of a good program. My goal has always been to have this program competing for championships every year,” Daniel said.
Wallace State secured Daniel’s 500th career victory with 25-15, 25-9, 25-20, win over Itawamba Community College in the Bash finale.
Mattrice Harris had 10 kills and three blocks in the milestone win, Harlee Kate Reid finished with eight kills and five digs and Tori Walker had nine digs and six kills. Savannah Rutledge collected 32 assists and eight digs, libero Temperance Chatman amassed 25 digs, Haven Hall and Anna Renshaw finished with six kills apiece and Laci Reese had five kills.
On Sunday, the Lions swept Southern Union with wins of 25-18, 25-10, 25-8, and 25-6, 25-7 and 25-16.
Reid finished with 18 kills and 10 digs combined, Harris had 18 kills and four blocks, Walker had 23 digs and eight kills and Renshaw accounted for 18 digs and 12 kills.
MacKenzie Davis finished with 40 assists combined, Courtney Patterson had 18 digs, Tobi Trotter had 17 digs and Reese added 13 kills.
Harris leads the conference with 288 kills and Reid is right behind her with 251 of her own. Rutledge is tops in the conference with 737 assists and Chatman leads the ACCC with 455 digs.
Wallace State travels to Columbus, Miss., on Wednesday to play the Mississippi University for Women. The Lions will be the top seed during the ACCC Tournament, scheduled for April 1-3 at Wallace State.
For more information about Wallace State athletics, visit www.athletics.wallacestate.edu or the athletics Facebook page at www.wallacestate.edu/