The Lady Tigers, pumped up by its frenzied home crowd complete with Tiger mascot, made things difficult on Avery throughout the match and pulled away in each game for a straight-set victory by scores of 25-10, 25-11 and 25-10.
Rosman netted five of the first six points in game one to seize an early lead, but Avery played even with the Lady Tigers to stick to within four points. Rosman began to feed off its strong service game and frontline hitters, building a 6-1 scoring run to lead by nine. Despite Avery head coach Kim Hayes’ efforts to stem momentum with timeouts to continue to encourage and instruct her club, the Lady Tigers finished the set with a 9-3 scoring spurt to close out the first set.
Avery played at its most competitive level during the second game. The Lady Vikings started strong against the Rosman serve and held its only lead of the contest with a narrow 6-5 lead. However, the Lady Tigers found its groove with a 16-4 scoring run that built another double-digit lead and finished out the game with four of the last five points to take a commanding 2-0 set lead.
“Rosman is a very consistent team. They make very little errors,” Coach Hayes said after the match. “They didn’t have big, tall hitters, just very consistent hitters. Their serving game was unreal! We couldn’t get anything going off their serve.”
In the third and final game, the Lady Vikings feel behind early and could not recover. Rosman went on a 12-1 scoring run behind its strong serve, then substituted a number of players as the final set moved forward, getting younger players and junior varsity members an opportunity to experience playoff action.
For the Lady Vikings, however, they refused to fold. Avery continued to battle in the final set, but Rosman proved why it is among the favorites to win a 1A state championship by eliminating the Big Red in the third and final game.
The atmosphere of the gym was unique for a volleyball setting, and was something that the Lady Vikings were not accustomed to, a fact the coach felt may have contributed to the team’s early struggles.
“The atmosphere was definitely intimidating,” Hayes said. “I will say, the town of Rosman loves some volleyball. The team was intimidating, as well as the music and their fans.”
Avery concludes its season with a 10-12 overall record, a season that included wins over Hendersonville on the road, as well as a win over West Wilkes, the team that faced Rosman in the 1A regional final earlier this week for the right to play in the state championship game.
“I wish we could have played better, but my girls have accomplished a lot this season,” Hayes said. “I am very proud of how these girls worked in the off-season. They stayed in shape and they played volleyball. They were very accepting of my situation while on maternity leave. I appreciate all their hard work and look forward to another season. These girls have every reason to hold their heads up high and be proud of Avery volleyball. I know I am!”
Congratulations to the Lady Vikings on another successful season!
