Volleyball Captures First Triumph of 2009 Campaign

Last week the Avery Lady Vikings picked up their first win of the 2009 season when both the junior varsity and varsity teams swept the Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy Lady Gryphons in Viking Gym. Avery also hosted traditional 1A power Hendersonville, falling in straight sets last Thursday.

On Tuesday, September 8^th, the Avery junior varsity began the evening with a 25-12, 25-11 win over the TJCA jayvees. Once the varsity teams hit the floor, things got no better for the visitors from Mooresboro. Thomas Jefferson put up a tough fight in the first game of the match, but the Lady Vikings managed to pull away late to capture a 25-20 first set win.

Avery looked confident and in control as the Big Red dispatched the Lady Gryphons easily by a 25-9 margin in the second set to take a 2-0 advantage. In the third game, Avery faced a little stronger competition from TJCA but was fundamentally sound in closing out the match by a 25-16 final score.

Megan Tennant recorded 7 kills and three blocks in the match, with 11 kills from Megan Robbins. Savannah Dellinger recorded five kills, to go along with three digs and three service aces. Lacey Barrier and Johanna Pittman had five kills each, with nine digs and three service aces from Jennie Elrod. Melinda Eggers recorded two digs, with 31 assists from Cassie Bumgarner.

“It’s always good to get a win, particularly against a 1A school for playoff reasons,” Avery head volleyball coach Kim Hayes said after the win. “The match gave us a chance to really work on our offense. Against the other teams in the conference we focus on defense first, so some players got to record quite a few kills.”

Two nights later the Lady Vikings welcomed the Lady Bearcats of Hendersonville High School to town. Hendersonville proved a tough team, but Avery fought tooth-and-nail with the perennial 1A power to the bitter end.

Hendersonville captured the junior varsity match by final scores of 25-11 and 25-23, respectively. In the varsity matchup, it was apparent that the Lady Vikings and Lady Bearcats were not very different in skill sets, evident by the final scores and the battles for each and every point in the match.

The Lady Bearcats took the first set in the match by an 18-25 final score, and won the final two games in the match by identical 21-25 scores. Despite the loss, Coach Hayes felt the experience will prove beneficial to her club.

“I told the girls if we practiced everyday with the same intensity as the Hendersonville game, we would start winning and upsetting some teams. Losing in three games on paper does not show that we were totally in it to until the end,” Coach Hayes said. “Hendersonville has been a major contender in the 1A division. Playing at that level every day, we can only get better.”

Savannah Dellinger had eight kills and four digs in the match. Megan Robbins added six kills, with seven kills by Megan Tennant. Cassie Bumgarner registered 23 assists. Lacey Barrier was strong defensively with six digs, while Melinda Eggers and Johanna Pittman added four digs each.

The Big Red returns to the court this week with matches at Polk County early in the week, and home matches Wednesday, September 16 against Draughn and Thursday, September 17 against Madison.