PH sits atop Hogo heap in volleyball
Patrick Henry has navigated to the top of the Hogoheegee District volleyball standings and Erin South is among the reasons the Rebels have gone in the right direction.
The versatile 5-foot-10 standout continued her stellar senior season with 13 kills, seven digs and two aces as Patrick Henry hammered out a 25-15, 25-18, 25-16 win over Washington County rival Holston on Monday night.
PH (15-7, 7-0) holds a slight league lead over Chilhowie (17-5, 5-1) with less than two weeks remaining in the regular season.
The Rebels suffered a five-game setback to Chilhowie in last year’s Region 1D finals and had just three seniors on that squad that also lost to Giles in the state quarterfinals.
South earned second-team all-state honors in 2025 and was among the notable returnees.
“I was expecting a pretty good season, but we’ve came out stronger than I ever expected,” South said. “I love everybody on this team and they’ve all done very well. … I think the experience has helped a lot. I’ve learned to go through a lot of pressure and persevere through everything. That experience has helped me in every part of the game.”
South and fellow senior Kinsley Counts are the captains of this crew.
Counts collected 20 digs, six kills and five aces on Monday.
South and Counts are a dynamic duo.
“Erin and I have played together since fifth grade, so it’s so easy to connect with her,” Counts said.
In total, Patrick Henry's roster features six seniors.
Junior Autumn Parks (11 digs, eight kills) and sophomore Aspyn Harner (21 digs) also played well in the latest win for the Rebels.
PH has a plethora of playmakers.
“I tell them it’s all 14 of us,” said Patrick Henry coach Crystal Coe Miller.
Holston (10-8, 2-5) hung around in each set, but Patrick Henry was able to put the Cavaliers away each time.
“We played well,” said Holston coach Jason Delp. “Our serve-receive hurt us a little bit there and they’d roll off five, six or seven points and it was just too much.
“Their experience is huge and so is their front row. They get some great sets, but they can attack any ball. Our blockers would time it up really well and we had several blocks, but then it seemed like balls that weren’t the best sets they were still able to do something with them.”
Bailee Singleton had four kills, three blocks, eight digs and two aces for Holston. Lucy Howard (14 digs), Payton Long (14 digs), Haleigh Dutton (12 digs) and Lydia Reid (12 digs) were the leaders on defense.
“We were competitive with teams in non-district play, but this district’s a different animal. It’s really good,” Delp said. “Whoever is the fourth team out of the district [to make the Region 1D tournament] could make some noise.”
It is indeed a competitive league.
Patrick Henry had a four-set win over Chilhowie and won a thrilling five-setter with Northwood last week.
“They showed grit and battled back in those,” Miller said. “That’s ultimately what it’s about.”
The Rebels travel to Rural Retreat tonight as they look to continue rolling.
“These girls are very good at recognizing each other’s strengths and encouraging those strengths,” Miller said. “That makes us more unified and connected.”
