Women's Volleyball | 8/27/2025 7:50:00 AM
The Clinton High School Volleyball team has not let losing get in its way.
Instead, the Lady Arrows have focused on fixing their mistakes, grinding at practice, and staying resilient in the face of adversity.
That mindset paid off against the Murrah Lady Mustangs in a Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) District 2-7A match on Tuesday at Arrow Gym.
Clinton grabbed its first district success in straight-set fashion with a 25-12, 25-14, 25-15 win over Murrah in Clinton. The game was a hurdle to making their first playoff berth since 2022.
"I think the girls keep pushing through adversity this year," DuVall said. "They lock in at practice, and you can tell that they are not going through the motions. They have set certain goals individually and for the team, and we are going to keep working toward those goals."
The Lady Arrows and the Lady Mustangs played a tight first set, but senior Madison Harris used the service line to elevate her team to a first-set win. Harris collected seven aces for the night -- many during her 12-point rally that gave Clinton a double-digit advantage in the opening set.
"We've been coming in every day, working really hard (at practices)," Harris said. "We just really wanted to get our first district win tonight."
Clinton cruised through the second set, setting it up for a third-set clinch. However, Murrah kept it tight in the third-set early, tying the game at 5-5, before the Lady Arrows pulled away for good, winning the set by 10 points.
"Tonight, we broke the game up into smaller games of five points, and we were pushing to be the first team to five points then 10 points and so on every time," Lady Arrow Head Volleyball Coach Natalie DuVall said. "Using that method, we focused on eliminating mistakes. For example, our serving errors.
"We did really well in the first and second sets," Duvall added. "The third set some of those errors snuck back in, but, overall, I thought we cleaned up the errors. We were aggressive at the net, and we really were swinging tonight."
Up next
DuVall and the Lady Arrows face another important test in MHSAA Region 2-7A when they play Starkville High School at 6 p.m. on Thursday at Arrow Gym.
"The (win against Murrah) has given us some confidence for Thursday," Harris said. "We have grown a lot since last year, knowing that we were toe-to-toe with them. We know we just need to go out and find a way to finish against them."
