Greeneville and West Greene battled for supremacy on the volleyball court Monday evening, with the Lady Devils needing five sets to come away with a 3-2 victory and improve to 11-14 on the season.
Greeneville head coach Sara Aiken credited West Greene for coming into the match prepared and putting pressure on the Lady Devils throughout the night.
“Hats off to Raven and what she’s been able to do with this team to come out and be so scrappy and so capable. This was such a great match to learn some things about ourselves, and that’s what we did. We will be able to trust ourselves in new ways and shore up some of the places we needed to today.”
The first set saw both teams battle back and forth until an ace from Kahlie Edwards and a kill from Carleigh Williams gave West Greene an 11-6 advantage, forcing Greeneville to call a timeout.
The Lady Devils rallied to cut the deficit to 14-12 behind the strong play of Katie Johnson and Gabby Atchison, but the Lady Buffs answered by pushing their lead back to 19-13 before closing out the opening set, 25-18.
Both teams continued to battle for momentum in the second set, but Greeneville eventually pulled ahead 19-12. A couple of kills from Lamons and an ace from Edwards helped West Greene cut the deficit to 19-15, but the Lady Devils responded by scoring the final six points to claim a 25-15 victory and even the match at one set apiece.
West Greene looked poised to take control of the third set after going on an 8-0 run, highlighted by three aces from Lamons and a kill from Williams, to take a 16-6 lead.
Greeneville, however, patiently clawed its way back and eventually tied the set at 19-19. From there, the score was tied four more times before the Lady Devils pulled out a 25-23 victory to take a 2-1 lead.
West Greene showed no signs of giving up in the fourth set, jumping out to a 6-1 lead behind a kill from Aleea Aiken and a push from Lamons that caught the Greeneville defense off guard.
Lamons continued her strong play at the net, while Emma Gray served up an ace to push the Lady Buffs’ lead to 10-3, prompting Greeneville to call timeout.
The Greene Devils turned to Natalie Knight and Riley Ireland to spark a comeback, eventually cutting the deficit to 22-19. West Greene, however, held on to close out the set 25-20 and force a fifth and deciding set.
West Greene coach Raven Borie was proud of her team’s effort and determination to fight back.
“After taking a loss like that, we did not just lay down. We wanted to prove differently and come out with some fire, and I’m proud of their efforts. Just hate that we weren’t able to finish.”
Junior Allison Hayes provided Greeneville with the start it needed in the deciding set. Her serves helped the Lady Devils jump out to a 4-0 lead.
From there, the teams continued to battle back and forth until Greeneville established a 10-5 advantage. West Greene trimmed the deficit to 11-9, but the Lady Devils closed the match with a 4-1 run to secure a 15-10 victory and the 3-2 match win.
Greeneville will look to carry the momentum from the victory into conference play when the Lady Devils hit the road for their next two matches, traveling to Unicoi County on Tuesday and Sullivan East on Thursday.
“Tonight wasn’t pretty on our side,” said Aiken, whose team committed approximately 70 unforced errors. “We are just going to have to focus on finishing touches, the sets, and even the match, and I feel like as volleyball players they will, remembering that they have been there before.”
West Greene, now 7-3 on the season, will look to rebound Thursday when the Lady Buffs travel to North Greene for a conference matchup.
“There are two areas that we can learn from tonight,” Borie said. “We are capable of playing and coming back, while also knowing it’s a tough pill to swallow when we were so close. Hopefully we will use that as motivation moving forward.”
