After a dominating triumph over the Belhaven Lady Blazers, Dillard’s Lady Blue Devils volleyball team boosted their record in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics conference.
The Lady Blue Devils battled the Lady Blazers in Dent Hall winning three games to none on Sept. 24.

The Blue Devils were off to a great start in the first game, putting their defense to work. This strategy made it easy for the Blue Devils to conquer the Blazers 30-26.

"Our defense was pretty sound," said Coach Javonne Butler. But they were expecting a little more from Belhaven, Butler added.

"They were a good team, but we were consistent," said Menesia Pinkney, a freshman. "We didn’t get into a slump when we made mistakes, and we always found a way to get our rhythm back."
Butler said that the Blue Devils had a "few mental breakdowns on passing," but it didn’t hurt their game.

"We try to encourage each other during the game and after every play," Pinkney said.
The Blue Devils went on to win the second and third games 30-20, and 30-27.
Although the team played an overall good game, Butler said that they have a long way to go.
"We need to get past the mental breakdowns that cause them to lose focus on what they’re doing," Butler said.

The volleyball team consists mostly of freshmen and most of the mistakes they make are because they are young players and a new team, Butler said. They plan to practice until they get better to prepare for the conference, she added.

The Lady Blue Devils also had two hitters in double digits. Cicely Ozen, a senior, had 16 kills and Candice Hairston had 17 kills. Both Aleshia Harris and Stephanie Willis, freshmen, led the team with 11 digs. Brittney Neveaux, also a freshman, finished the game with 32 assists.