Pickens faced Daniel in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Tuesday. The Blue Flame blew past the Lions 3-0. That's more bragging rights for the Blue Flame, who also won the pair's last head-to-head.
Pickens never let Daniel on the board, but things got pretty close in the second set. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-18, 25-22, 25-19.
Rylan Nichols
| 09/16/25 @ Daniel | 8 |
| 09/09/25 @ Greer | 5 |
| 09/04/25 @ Berea | 5 |
| 08/26/25 vs Legion Collegiate Academy | 4 |
| 08/25/25 vs T.L. Hanna | 4 |
Pickens was led to victory by Rylan Nichols and Natalie Hunter. Nichols had eight digs and two aces, while Hunter had 12 digs. Those eight digs gave Nichols a new career-high.
They weren't the only good servers: Pickens was lethal from the service line and finished the match with 11 aces. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Daniel only served five.
Despite the loss, Daniel still got an impressive performance from Lydia Chasteen, who had 15 assists and four digs. Chasteen has been hot recently, having posted 15 or more assists the last three times she's played.
The victory made it two in a row for Pickens and bumps their season record up to 13-1. As for Daniel, the loss snapped their winning streak at ten matches and leaves them with a 10-2 record.
Pickens wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next match, a 3-0 win against Seneca on the 18th. As for Daniel, they also didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 3-0 victory against Blue Ridge on the 18th.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
