Southwest DeKalb opened the 2020 DeKalb girls’ high school volleyball season with a pair wins at home against Stephenson and Stone Mountain on Tuesday evening.

The Panthers opened the night against the Stephenson Jaguars with a 2-0 sweep (25-14, 25-17) as the two teams opened the 2020 volleyball season in DeKalb County.

Southwest DeKalb jumped out to a 7-0 lead behind the serving of Edith Kann and a couple of big shots from Natalie Rowe to take command early.

Stephenson got within five points twice in the set, but five points from the service line by Marissa Forbes including a pair of aces and help from her front line extended the lead to 20-10. Rowe would close out the game with a nice tap shot into an open spot on the floor for the 25-14 game one win.

The second set was back-and-forth early until Tamyra Hunt hit a nice shot to break a 7-7 tie. Hunt turned to the service line to lead the Panthers to six consecutive points as the lead expanded to 14-7.

Stephenson pulled back within three at 13-16 on a put away by Mariama Bangura only to have the Panthers extend the lead back out to 21-13 behind the serving of Adaijah Purdie who hit several winners in the run.

Southwest DeKalb went on to close out a 25-17 win for the sweep and a 1-0 start to the season.

Stephenson bounced back in the second match of the night with a 2-0 win over Stone Mountain (25-20 and 25-21) to even the Jaguars’ record at 1-1 to start the season.

The two teams were tied six times early in the opening set before Stephenson’s Lariah Collins put her squad ahead 10-9 and the Jaguars would lead by as much as five (16-11) before the Pirates came storming back to tie the set at 18-18 and 19-19 behind the play of Brianna Folks, Daisy Gilleylen and Alyssa Kemp.

Zakara Nzinga used her serve to help the Jaguars to move in front 24-19. Stone Mountain made it 24-20, but a shot was just out of bounds to give Stephenson the 25-20 win in the opening set.

The two teams started the second set much like the first with four times including 8-8 before the Jaguars would take the lead for good at 9-8 when a Pirate serve caught the net.

Leading 15-13, the Jaguars put together a 5-1 run to go up 20-14 on a nice play by Nzinga. Stone Mountain closed the gap again to 22-20 before Stephenson would put the match away.

Brianna Williams hit a service winner with Stephenson up 24-21 to close out the match.

The final match of the night pitting the hosts Panthers against the Pirates had a similar feel to the Stephenson-Stone Mountain match with an early back-and-forth between the two teams. The Panthers began putting some distance between the two teams behind the play of Rowe and Purdie to go up 20-14.

Stone Mountain once against climbed back into the game closing the gap to 22-20. Edith Kan closed out the set with a big put away for a 25-21 victory.

Stone Mountain (0-2) took a quick 2-0 lead in the second set, but Purdie’s serving and big dive for a save that found its way into a soft spot on the Pirates’ side of the net to pull away to a 9-2 advantage in favor of the Panthers. Southwest would not allow the Pirates to get any closer than six the rest of the way on the way to a 25-12 victory.

Other Scores:
Arabia Mountain 2, Redan 0 (25-10, 25-7)
Arabia Mountain 2, Miller Grove 0 (25-16, 25-20)