Vance provides leadership, numbers for WVHS

WATER VALLEY — The clicking sound in Haley Vance’s ankle was loud enough for her to hear it. Her final basketball game as a Water Valley Lady Blue Devil resulted in a sprained ankle and while that didn’t make an impact for the girls basketball team, a bum ankle wasn’t a good thing for the softball team and first-year coach Casey Clouse.

Fortunately for Vance and the rest of her teammates, she was able to recover from the sprained ankle in time, and once she got her timing back at the plate, she was able deliver a great performance in her final year wearing blue and white. (June 7, 2012, Page 1B)

Mantachie tops Lady Blue Devils in softball

Water Valley’s stay in the MHSAA’s Class 3A softball playoffs came to an unfortunate end Saturday as the Mantachie Lady Mustangs won the decisive third game of the opening-round series 14-8 in Water Valley. (more…) (April 23, 2012, Page 3B)

WVHS misses opportunity with errors

SPRINGVILLE — Water Valley’s goal of winning the Division 3-3A championship outright and earning a bye to start the 3A playoffs was done in by miscues Thursday night. Six errors doomed the Lady Blue Devils in their 9-8 loss to South Pontotoc in the regular season finale. The Lady Cougars, who rallied to beat WVHS on Monday night in extra innings, scored six of their nine runs due to errors, including the game-winner in the bottom of the seventh inning. (April 20, 2012, Page 7A)

Byhalia no match for Lady Blue Devils

WATER VALLEY — Led by a balanced offensive attack, the Water Valley Lady Blue Devils had little trouble defeating the Byhalia Lady Indians on Thursday.

Water Valley remained unbeaten in District 2-3A play (3-0) by knocking off Byhalia 11-1 in five innings. The Lady Blue Devils left five runners in scoring position in the first three innings, so they could have ended the game even earlier, but coach Clint Faust seemed pleased with the overall production and the 13 hits his group collected. (March 30, 2012, Page 9A)

Lady Blue Devils defeat Oxford

Water Valley’s fast start on the softball diamond led to a 15-2 win over Oxford on Tuesday night in Water Valley. The Lady Blue Devils scored five runs in the first inning and added a run in each of the next three innings in their five-inning win. WVHS finished with 15 hits in the victory and was aided by four OHS errors. Tonya Phillips led the Lady Blue Devils with three hits in the contest. Haley Vance, Shade Epes, Mallory Washington, Erica Rice and A.K. Burns each had two hits. Vance led WVHS with four RBIs, Taylor Epes earned the win as she finished with four strikeouts Water Valley returns to action Friday at Independence at 5 pm. while the Lady Chargers play a doubleheader at Calhoun City on Saturday starting at 11 a.m. (March 21, 2012, Page 6)

Clouse ready to lead young Lady Blue Devils

WATER VALLEY — A change in philosophy on the softball diamond has come to the Lady Blue Devils in the form of first-year coach Casey Clouse. In the attempt to bring the team up to speed with her philosophy, Clouse will have to rely on her team getting better and better as the year progresses as opposed to them knowing what to do from the start. (February 24, 2012, Page 7A)

WVHS needs more in losses to Troopers

WATER VALLEY — A 14-2 run late in the third quarter prevented the Water Valley Blue Devils from earning a Region 2-3A win over Mooreville on Friday night. After battling the Troopers back-and-forth in the first half and a good portion of the third quarter, mental lapses on defense ended up costing the Blue Devils.

The Troopers’ run ended up erasing a two-point lead for the WVHS boys and resulting in a 45-35 lead just before the start of the fourth quarter. Water Valley did go on a 10-2 run in the fourth to get within two points (49-47) of the Troopers, but the Blue Devils never could get over the proverbial hump. The end result was a 67-52 victory for Mooreville, which is now in second place in the region. (January 23, 2012, Page 3B)

WVHS hoops splits with J.Z. George

Water Valley grabbed an early lead, 27-5, in the first half and held on to defeat J.Z. George 46-43 in the boys game Tuesday night. C.J. Jackson, Johnathan Kirkwood and Chris Conard all scored 10 points in the victory for the 2-1 Blue Devils. E.J. Bounds finished with nine points. Water Valley’s girls lost 40-30 in the first game of the doubleheader. Haley Vance scored 16 points for the Lady Blue Devils, who are now 1-2 on the year. Both varsity teams return to action Friday night at South Panola. Action begins with a JV boys game at 5. (December 7, 2011, Page 6)

Lady Blue Devils have a new look for 2011-12 campaign

In years past Water Valley’s girls hoops squad has had one play that stood out above all else: Get the ball to Ashley Phillips. Let her go the length of the floor and either look to shoot or drive and set up one of her teammates locked and loaded to shoot a jumper.

The Lady Blue Devils will have to re-write their playbook a bit this season as both Ashley and C.C. Phillips have graduated. (more…) (November 3, 2011, Page 8)

Lafayette downs improved Lady Devils

WATER VALLEY — The Water Valley volleyball team has showed marked improvement over the course of the last two weeks.

After being over-powered on Aug. 25 at Lafayette, the Lady Blue Devils played a competitive match in the return trip on Thursday, falling to the Lady Commodores 3-1 (26-24, 25-18, 24-26, 25-21).

Even if the end result was still a loss, it was obvious at Water Valley’s auxiliary gym that the Lady Blue Devils have made significant strides as a team under first-year coach Casey Clouse. (September 9, 2011, Page 8A)