South Greene played some really high-level volleyball in the first and last sets on Wednesday evening to earn an important District 1-A win, but in the middle North Greene gave the Lady Rebels all they could handle.
The Lady Rebels captured a 3-1 win over the Lady Huskies, 25-15, 25-20, 21-25, 25-12.
“We came out an dominated the first set and the last sets, those sets showed what we can do,” South Greene coach Stephen Gregg said. “We dropped the third set and as a coach you want to see your team fight back, and they really did that to finish the last set. This is a big rivalry match, both teams really wanted it, and credit to North Greene for getting that set. But I was proud of my team for fighting back.”
The first set started with the two teams trading points. South Greene got kills from Emma Padgett and Kinley McCaslin, but gave back those points on errors. North Greene briefly took the lead on a tip by Tralyn Southerland that made it 5-4. Then Padgett got hot at the service line, dropping in three sharp sinkers for aces on the way to an 11-5 Lady Rebels’ lead.
The lead grew to 17-9 after McCaslin took some powerful swings and landed three more kills.
North Greene got as close as 20-15 on an ace by Cadie McDevitt, but South Greene scored the last five points to take the 25-15 win.
In the second set North GrEene found itself in front 6-2 after McDevitt came up with a tough block, but then two first-hit kills from Padgett quickly closed the gap.
Missed swings by the Lady Rebels and good serves from Southerland, accompanied by strong backrow play, allowed North Greene to take a 15-8 lead.
Padgett would not let the set slip away from South Greene and when she blasted one from the left post the score evened out at 16-16.
South Greene took the lead at 19-18 on a serve from Heidi Dean and Haylee Bird followed it with a block. The set finished with an ace from Padgett and a kill from McCaslin that made it 25-20.
“Emma came up big in that set,” Gregg said. “We are versatile with kids that can hit front line and back row. That is really big at this level because a lot of teams can’t prep for that. It’s really good to have those heavy hitters.”
In the third set North Greene raced out to a 6-1 lead with Josie Graham scoring on an ace and ball pushed deep to the back line. Kinlea Eastep put down a slam from the left side in the opening stretch.
Padgett broke the streak, but after Southerland and Eastep came up with consecutive kills the Lady Huskies were in front 12-6.
McDevitt sent a slam to the hardwood from the middle to make it 17-10, and Kenzie Burns set the score at 20-12 with an ace.
McDevitt finished out the 25-21 win by scoring on a block and a tip.
The fourth set started with four North Greene errors, but the Lady Huskies were able to overcome them to swing in front 6-4. Graham came up with three hard kills in the run while Burns put one down from the right side.
South Greene regained the lead at 7-6 after Padgett scored on a kill and a tip and McCaslin beat the Lady Huskies with an ace.
The set was last tied at 8-8 and then the Lady Rebels began to pull away. After a stretch that included two kills from Padgett and two aces from Emma Wright South Greene had a 16-9 lead.
In the final 10 points McCaslin scored on two kills and two blocks as South Greene finished the night leading 25-12.
South Greene is now 2-0 in District 1-A play while North Greene drops to 0-1.
“We’ve been gradually getting better. We’ve been playing in weekend tournaments, and we have another big one coming up next week. Our goal is to get better every week, and I’m seeing a lot of growth. I can’t brag on this team enough and I feel like we’re only going to get better,” Gregg said.
