With the youth of the 2009 Lady Vikings volleyball team, the early portion of the season has provided a few growing pains as the squad matures and improves together.On August 24th, the Lady Vikings traveled to
Sophomores Tuccoa Brackett and Megan Gouge gave fits to the Avery defense. Brackett had a strong service game that resulted in nine points on serve, while Gouge added three solo and three assisted blocks and six kills.
Avery opened the match with four straight points, and used the cushion to keep a working margin in defeating the Lady Titans 25-18 in game one. The two squads played a back-and-forth affair in the second contest. McDowell held a 15-7 score late in the game, but fended off a late Avery rally to prevail by a narrow 25-23 score to tie the match.
It was again a case of “close, but no cigar” in the third game, as Avery remained close but came up short in a 25-22 contest, and lost the deciding game of the match by a 25-18 final score.
In JV action, McDowell defeated Avery in straight sets 25-10 and 25-21.
“We mentally just broke down. We missed some critical serves and made some critical errors right at the end. We had the momentum, but just couldn’t pull through,” Avery head volleyball coach Kim Hayes said following the match. “McDowell is a strong team. Not many balls hit the floor, but we just had some errors at the end. Hopefully as the season progresses, those types of errors will go away.”
Last Tuesday, August 25th, the Lady Vikings again hit the road for a non-conference matchup, this time in Valdese against the Draughn Lady Wildcats. In junior varsity action, the Lady Wildcats remained unbeaten as they were victorious over the Big Red
In varsity action the Draughn team played a strong match, defeating the Lady Vikings in straight sets by scores of 25-12, 25-16, and 25-14, respectively.
A pair of seniors, Aubrey Bradshaw and Sasha Connelly, led the Draughn club, with Bradshaw recording eight kills and seven service aces, and Connelly adding 13 assists.
Despite the loss, the Avery club refuses to hang its head and vows to play hard for every point on the floor.
“We are young but I don't want to use that as an excuse,” Coach Hayes remarked after the match. “We are struggling with finding a strong hitter. Our club could really use the hitting we lost with Katie Ellis graduating. Draughn is a power house who won their conference last year.
Although the team has yet to record its first win for 2009, the tough non-conference schedule, including Avery’s home opener this past Tuesday with Watauga, will make the Lady Vikings a better club once conference games roll around.
“I scheduled tough teams to try and get us ready for the conference. Nobody likes losing, especially me. I am just hoping that these tough teams and tough practices will help us to peak at conference time,” Coach Hayes stated. “The girls are working hard everyday in practice, and we are having many discussions on the importance of defense. Because we don't have a strong offense, we have to out-hustle the opponents and cause them to make the mistakes.”
In addition to Tuesday’s match with Watauga, Avery opens conference play with a match at Owen on Thursday and a Tri-Match at
