Avery’s volleyball squad battled through two grueling five-game matches last week, taking on Polk County in Columbus on Tuesday evening, then repeated the effort against Madison in Viking Gym on Thursday evening. Although the Polk game did not end on a winning note, the Big Red learned from the match and emerged victorious against the Lady Patriots two nights later.
In junior varsity action prior to Tuesday’s match, the Lady Vikings squad took the first game in a best-of-three games match by the final score of 27-25, but was unable to clinch the match win as the Polk team came back to take the second game 25-21 and the rubber game of the match by a 25-17 final score.
The varsity match between the two clubs was a thriller as the two 1A schools battled it out on the court. Polk won the first game of the match 28-26, but Avery rallied to tie the match at one game each with a 25-20 victory. Polk regrouped to capture game three by a score of 25-14, but, faced with a do-or-die situation, the Vikings fended off a four-game defeat by roaring back to tie the match with a 25-17 win in game four.
The fifth and deciding game of the match was a duel to the finish, but the home-standing Lady Wolverines proved too strong to overcome as Polk County won the final game by a 15-11 score.
“I felt like we matched up with Polk pretty well,” Avery head coach Kim Hayes said after the match. “They had one good, strong hitter, and definitely were not as good as Hendersonville. We just were not in the game like we should have been.”
Katie Ellis had 22 kills, eight digs, six service points and a service ace in the match, with 20
service points, five service aces and three digs by Savannah Dellinger. Rachel Buchanan had ten digs, six service points and a service ace in the contest, with 12 assists in the third game of the match alone by sophomore Cassie Bumgarner.
On Thursday evening Avery looked to hold serve at home against the visiting Lady Patriots from Madison High School. The junior varsity team set the pace for the evening as they defeated the Lady Patriot JVs by the scores of 25-18, 15-25, and 27-25.
In varsity action Avery captured the first two games of the match by scores of 25-19 and 25-20, respectively, but ran into difficulty as the Lady Patriots rallied to not only take game three by a 25-19 score, but came from behind in the fourth game of the match to win by a 25-22 score to force a fifth and deciding game.
In the tiebreaker game to determine the match winner the teams traded points early before Madison took a 4-2 lead. A 6-1 run by the Lady Vikings forced Madison to take a time out trailing 10-3. The Lady Patriots drew to within three points at 10-7, but Avery forged ahead with a 4-1 rally to have match point at 14-8. Refusing to quit, the Lady Patriots cut the lead to 14-11. Avery struck a winning kill for the final point of the match to take the final game by the score of 15-11, giving the Lady Vikings their first conference match win of the season.
Katie Ellis again led the way for the Big Red, as the senior had 32 kills, 21 digs, and three blocks in the match. Sara Singleton had 33 assists, nine service points, and five digs, while freshman Savannah Dellinger had 12 digs and 12 service points to go with three kills. Fellow freshman Megan Tennant chipped in with three kills and three blocks in the win.
“We won the first two games, then kind of lost it mentally as we dropped the next two games,” Coach Hayes said. “I told the girls in the middle of the fifth game that they lost to Hendersonville 11-15, then lost to Polk 11-15, so let’s make it our turn to win in the fifth, and they did in beating them with the ironic score of 15-11. I told them they needed to dig deep in their hearts and guts and go for it.”
In junior varsity action prior to Tuesday’s match, the Lady Vikings squad took the first game in a best-of-three games match by the final score of 27-25, but was unable to clinch the match win as the Polk team came back to take the second game 25-21 and the rubber game of the match by a 25-17 final score.
The varsity match between the two clubs was a thriller as the two 1A schools battled it out on the court. Polk won the first game of the match 28-26, but Avery rallied to tie the match at one game each with a 25-20 victory. Polk regrouped to capture game three by a score of 25-14, but, faced with a do-or-die situation, the Vikings fended off a four-game defeat by roaring back to tie the match with a 25-17 win in game four.
The fifth and deciding game of the match was a duel to the finish, but the home-standing Lady Wolverines proved too strong to overcome as Polk County won the final game by a 15-11 score.
“I felt like we matched up with Polk pretty well,” Avery head coach Kim Hayes said after the match. “They had one good, strong hitter, and definitely were not as good as Hendersonville. We just were not in the game like we should have been.”
Katie Ellis had 22 kills, eight digs, six service points and a service ace in the match, with 20
service points, five service aces and three digs by Savannah Dellinger. Rachel Buchanan had ten digs, six service points and a service ace in the contest, with 12 assists in the third game of the match alone by sophomore Cassie Bumgarner.On Thursday evening Avery looked to hold serve at home against the visiting Lady Patriots from Madison High School. The junior varsity team set the pace for the evening as they defeated the Lady Patriot JVs by the scores of 25-18, 15-25, and 27-25.
In varsity action Avery captured the first two games of the match by scores of 25-19 and 25-20, respectively, but ran into difficulty as the Lady Patriots rallied to not only take game three by a 25-19 score, but came from behind in the fourth game of the match to win by a 25-22 score to force a fifth and deciding game.
In the tiebreaker game to determine the match winner the teams traded points early before Madison took a 4-2 lead. A 6-1 run by the Lady Vikings forced Madison to take a time out trailing 10-3. The Lady Patriots drew to within three points at 10-7, but Avery forged ahead with a 4-1 rally to have match point at 14-8. Refusing to quit, the Lady Patriots cut the lead to 14-11. Avery struck a winning kill for the final point of the match to take the final game by the score of 15-11, giving the Lady Vikings their first conference match win of the season.
Katie Ellis again led the way for the Big Red, as the senior had 32 kills, 21 digs, and three blocks in the match. Sara Singleton had 33 assists, nine service points, and five digs, while freshman Savannah Dellinger had 12 digs and 12 service points to go with three kills. Fellow freshman Megan Tennant chipped in with three kills and three blocks in the win.
“We won the first two games, then kind of lost it mentally as we dropped the next two games,” Coach Hayes said. “I told the girls in the middle of the fifth game that they lost to Hendersonville 11-15, then lost to Polk 11-15, so let’s make it our turn to win in the fifth, and they did in beating them with the ironic score of 15-11. I told them they needed to dig deep in their hearts and guts and go for it.”
