The Chuckey-Doak volleyball team finished strong on Monday evening to pick up a 3-1 win at South Greene, 25-21, 22-25, 25-22, 25-15.
“I thought the girls played very mentally tough tonight, especially after a hard loss in the second set,” Chuckey-Doak coach Marissa Snapp said. “Sometimes coming back is harder mentally than it is physically. The fact that they were able to overcome that really meant a lot to me.”
With the win the Lady Black Knights complete the season sweep of the South Greene, a feat that has coach Marissa Snapp feeling good about the growth she has seen in her program.
“It means a lot to us. We were a good team last year, but the question was, could we meet that new standard and push past that standard. The fact that these girls continue to grow is phenomenal. And I think it boosts our confidence, which is so much of what volleyball is,” Snapp said.
Monday’s game turned in the in the third set where the Lady Black Knights rallied late and stole the victory before finishing the night with a dominant fourth set.
The third set started with South Greene taking a 7-4 lead when Riley Southerland got a kill to land from the right side after Ella Bailey kept the play alive with a diving dig.
That lead moved to 10-6 on a kill from Jaelyn Fillers and to 13-7 on a Chuckey-Doak error. After two kills from Kinley McCaslin the Lady Rebels were in front 20-15.
Kallie Dobson got Chuckey-Doak’s comeback going with a kill and when Jacey Taylor beat the defense with an ace Chuckey-Doak’s lead was down to 20-18.
Hayleigh Seidl tied things at 21-21 with a kill from the left side, and the Isabelle Karriker put the game away for the Lady Knights. In the final four points Chuckey-Doak’s towering middle had two kills before finishing the 25-22 win with a scoring tip.
“We just had to stop making unforced error and keep our side of the net clean,” Snapp said. “That’s really all it was. We gave away too many points and were not able to go on runs. When we made the little change, kept the ball in and kept talking everything else took care of itself.”
The Lady Black Knights kept the momentum from the third set rolling into the fourth set and finished the night with a convincing 25-15 win.
Chuckey-Doak jumped in front 10-4 after Karriker scored on a kill and a block and Jessie Dayton landed an ace.
Jacey Taylor and Jayden Myers followed with two kills a apiece and the lead quickly moved to 16-6.
From there the teams traded points to the finish with Taylor ending the night by punching a free ball to the deep corner and landing it just inside both lines.
“It was good to see them play at that level in the fourth set,” Snapp said. “I told them that every set could look like that if that always played with that intensity and that clean volleyball. We need to learn from that. It was great to see them just play good volleyball.”
The day started with a tightly contested opening set.
Chuckey-Doak found the first breathing room at 7-5 after Karriker stuffed a Lady Rebels’ swing and then Taylor hammered one from the left side.
With Chloe Kirkpatrick serving South Greene missed on three swats and Chuckey-Doak’s lead increased to 14-9.
South Greene then regrouped and closed the gap. Emma Wright slipped over a second -hit tip, McCaslin killed one from the back row and then she dropped in an ace that cut the lead to 15-14.
The Lady Rebels tied things at 16-16 when Fillers sent over a serve that Chuckey-Doak could not send back.
Karriker earned a block on the next play and then went ambidextrous on the next two plays, adding a kill with each hand. An ace by Hayden Kenney pushed Chuckey-Doak’s lead to 20-16.
South Greene cut the lead to 20-19 on a powerful slam from Emma Padgett, but the Lady Rebels never got over the hump as Chuckey-Doak prevailed 25-21.
In the second set Chuckey-Doak took command first at 4-1 after Karriker scored on a tip and Myers landed an ace.
That lead was short lived, and an ace by Haylee Bird tied things at 5-5. Padgett followed with consecutive kills for a 7-5 South Greene lead.
Three missed swings by Chuckey-Doak and then a left-side slam from McCaslin put South Greene in front 11-7.
The Lady Knights cut the lead down to 16-15 after Karriker scored on a pair of blocks. They cut it to one point again at 19-18 on a slam from Taylor, but Chuckey-Doak never got in front.
South Greene found the breathing room it needed when Padgett served up pair of aces and scored on a back-row kill. McCaslin put down two kills from the left side in the 25-22 win.
Karriker led Chuckey-Doak on Monday with 17 kills, 12 blocks and five aces. Taylor had 16 kills and 12 digs. Kirkpatrick dished 36 assists and had 10 digs. Myers had four kills and two blocks. Church had 13 digs, Dayton had 11 digs and Kenney had 10 digs.
