Lady Falcons Celebrate Senior Night With Sweep of Central
by JIMMY MOORE
TriCitiesSports.com
September 18, 2017
CHURCH HILL, Tenn. – Volunteer’s four seniors celebrated Senior Night in style Monday night in the Falcons’ Nest as the Lady Falcons turned back non-conference foe Sullivan Central in straight sets, 25-20, 25-14, 25-18.
Volunteer’s first-year head coach Josh Wenger said getting a victory was huge for his four seniors – Alyssa Hatley, Abby Hensley, Jordan Christian and Keylee Botkin – and he made sure they got extended playing time.
“We had beat Central (4-11) in four sets the last time we played and all the games were close so we were definitely not going to underestimate them,” said Wenger. “They play so hard and my girls were talking about how scrappy they are. They have a lot of tenacity and don’t give up.”
The Lady Cougars were able to force the issue in the first set that was knotted on nine occasions, the last time coming at 14-14.
Botkin’s kill got side out for the Lady Falcons (17-8) and junior Sydney Allen, who had 18 assists in the match, served five consecutive points that included one of her three aces and Hatley’s kill and two unforced Lady Cougar errors sealed the first set.
The young Lady Cougars would not go away easily as they battled the Lady Falcons on even terms in the second set that was tied at 13-13 when Botkin, who had four aces in the match, stepped to the service line and reeled off 10 straight points, thanks in a huge part to Hatley’s play at the net to go up 2-0.
Central coach Logan Kemp said his team continues to go through growing pains and they were coming off a tough weekend in the Mountain Empire Classic.
“After the weekend, you turn around and then have to play a strong team on Monday,” said Kemp. “It’s a non-conference game but any time you step on the floor you want to be able to put yourself into position to win.
“Early on in that first set it looked like we were good to go and then the second and third sets we were struggling. You only have so much energy.”
In the third set, Volunteer was leading 12-8 when Wenger called a time out and the Lady Falcons responded with four straight points to extend the advantage to 16-8 but a time out by Kemp was followed by a 5-0 run by the Lady Cougars thanks to in a huge part to Avery Leming’s serving before the Lady Falcon’s Hatley, who had another double-double (13 digs) sealed the match with her 21st kill.
“In that third set we were on a roll and they called a timeout,” added Wenger. “They got four or five points back and that is just a testament to their no-quit attitude.”
Sophomore Hope Bachman subbing for Sydney Dobbs had 10 assists for the Lady Falcons while Gracie Smith added four kills and six digs.
Hensley said the seniors may have been honored but the game is a team effort any time they step on the floor and win.
“I like playing on the front row with Alyssa and we are comfortable with each other,” she said. “So far we have done really good this year.”
Central’s setter Laikan Hoback had 20 assists and five digs in the match while Libero Maci Cloninger had 28 digs. Camile Lucas collected five kills.
Volunteer High School - CHURCH HILL, TN
September 15, 2017
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