Sale Creek smashes, passes way to sweep
It was a rare night when both high school volleyball coaches left the court pleased with their teams.
Even though Sale Creek swept host Red Bank 25-19, 25-18, 25-22 on Thursday, goals were reached by both teams.
“We’re scrappy. Even when we were not playing really well, being scrappy paid off for us,” Sale Creek coach Debbie Hill said after her team improved to 3-0. “We made a lot of unforced errors, but Red Bank played hard. They’ve improved a lot, and they will be someone to be reckoned with down the road.”
For now, though, Hill’s front-line rotation of Reagan Ayers, Sydney Gibson, Lillie Morgan and Madysun Steele was too much for the Lady Lions to overcome. Steele had 12 kills, with Gibson right behind with 11 and Ayers with 10. Each time Red Bank would make a run, Steele and Co. would have a hard-hitting answer.
“Our front row is strong, and they’ve got some experience behind them,” Hill said. “Our passing is consistent, and that’s the name of the game — to get the ball up there where the hitters can take control of it.”
Jayda Perry led a strong passing effort with 42 assists and was a key part of several long rallies that usually went the Lady Panthers’ way. The first of those came with Perry serving at 12-11 in the first set. Morgan had a kill, Gibson a winner at the net and Perry a pair of aces to go with a pair of Red Bank errors for a 19-11 lead en route to the 25-19 win.
The telling run in the second set came after a Lady Lions rally nearly erased a six-point deficit. Ashley Ware’s kill ignited a 6-2 run that also included a kill and a block from Zanobia Pratt as Red Bank (5-8) closed to 16-15.
However, Steele had kills on consecutive points and Ayres followed with one after a net save by Perry. Steele added two more kills late, and Gibson ended it with a winner at the net.
The third set was tied at 13 before a pair of errors opened the door for the Lady Panthers, Cox hit a winner and Ayres sandwiched a service error with a pair of kills. At 18-16, Steele again stepped up with a pair of kills on a quick 3-0 run. Red Bank closed to 24-22 on a Shelby Romans winner and a Sale Creek error, but Gibson ended it on a nice set by Perry.
Despite the loss, Red Bank coach Buzz Ricks was thrilled with his young team’s effort.
“We came out to compete tonight,” Ricks said. “We knew it was going to be a tough match, but we had the mindset to come out and play hard every point, and you saw what our players did. It was fabulous. We have a young team, and we are just trying to do the basic things right now.”
Bailee Phillips and Pratt had four kills each, with Pratt and Bailey Lee each getting four blocks.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.