The sport of volleyball is one that’s growing in participation, interest, and quality of play as more schools have recently added it in Southwest Mississippi.

Tuesday at Wesson, the Cobras, who’ve been playing the sport for the past five years, hosted North Pike, a school that’s three years in for volleyball.

It was Wesson who protected its home court in the Snake Pit with a 3-0 sweep of the visiting Jaguars from Summit.

The Cobras and coach Michelle Nunnery moved to 3-0 on the season with the win and the Jags drop to 4-4 for the year with the loss.

Wesson was down 8-4 early in the first set when sophomore defensive specialist Kenslie Carter stepped in to serve for the Cobras.

Carter kept putting balls into play that were difficult for the North Pike rotation to handle and when they finally broke her serve, Wesson had surged ahead 12-9 in eventual first set victory that ended 25-21 for the home team.

What Wesson does have other than experience is solid size across the front line, led by senior outside hitter Brianna Dixon at 5-foot-11. She’s joined up front by 5-foot-9 junior outside hitter Jacey Shannon, 5-foot-8 senior outside hitter Jamirah Harvey, and 5-foot-8 junior outside hitter Caylie Britt.

Sophomore Madelyn Sanders stands 5-foot-9 and plays middle hitter. A standout softball pitcher, she’s got one of the best service games on the team.

North Pike and coach Aaron Skeen are a young team, but the Jaguars have already had some success this season, earning wins over Amite County, Bogue Chitto, and Tylertown thus far in the season. They played as an independent for their first two seasons but now join the MHSAA Region 3-5A in 2025 that includes Brookhaven High, Natchez, South Jones, Sumrall, and Laurel.

Skeen came over to NP after previously coaching volleyball at Tylertown. She says the sport continues to grow in popularity in Summit.

“We’re still learning, still growing, but it’s been really embraced by the school,” said Skeen. “We have had a teachers versus students fund raiser in the spring that the whole school gets behind and has fun with.”

Junior Ellyn Williams is a leader at the net for the Jaguars as an outside hitter with her leaping ability.

North Pike won the opening junior high match on Tuesday before Wesson won a junior varsity matchup that preceded the varsity showdown.

Wesson opened the season last week with a win over Lawrence County in Monticello.

Last year for a second consecutive season, Wesson won a playoff game, beating McLaurin a year after beating Kemper County in the 3A first round for the first ever postseason victory the short history of the program.

Wesson has dropped to 2A this season and is now competing in Region 7-2A along with Amite County, Wilkinson County, and a Loyd Star program that’s just brough volleyball back after a long hiatus.

“We started off tonight just being satisfied with volleying the ball back and forth over the net in the first set,” said Nunnery, who also coaches girls’ basketball and softball for Wesson. “When it clicked for us that we needed to be setting up shots for our hitters and being intentional with our second touches, we started to look better.”

The second set was tied 11-11 before a run by Wesson put the Cobras ahead 18-15, forcing a North Pike timeout. The Cobras would go on to eventually win the set 25-19.

That momentum carried the home team to an eventual 25-11 advantage in the third set to clinch the match.

Many programs from around Southwest Mississippi will head to Salem this weekend for the annual tournament put on by the Wildcats in Walthall County. With two courts running simultaneously, it’s wall to wall volleyball.

“We’re going to play Loyd Star, West Marion, and East Marion,” said Nunnery. “It should be a good test for us, those schools in Marion County have been playing volleyball for 10-12 years, so they know what it takes to win.”

Before that, Wesson is back at home on Thursday, Aug. 14, hosting South Pike. The varsity match is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

North Pike will host Tylertown on Thursday and the Jags will host a return game against Wesson on Tuesday, Aug. 19.