The North Greene volleyball team had to come from behind twice on Monday, but the Lady Huskies managed to pick up a pair of wins over Providence Academy and Gatlinburg-Pittman in a tri match at the Huskies Den.
The day got started for the Lady Huskies with a 2-1 win over Providence Academy, 28-30, 25-21, 25-12. Then in North Greene’s second contest they took down Gatlinburg-Pittman 2-1, 17-25, 25-14, 25-21.
“It was great to see the girls fight tonight,” North Greene coach Emaline Erwin said. “They got in a hole, but they didn’t hang their heads and they were able to get out of it. I just wish we would quit falling in holes.”
The tri-match started a big week for the Lady Huskies that includes two important District 1-A contests with South Greene on Tuesday and West Greene on Thursday. If the Lady Huskies win both they would put themselves in a tie for first place in the district with West Greene.
“This is a big week for us, and we have to stay focused,” Erwin said. “We have to keep talking, keep moving our feet and keep our energy up. When we aren’t talking we start to play lazy, and that’s when we fall behind.”
Monday’s opening set looked bleak for the Lady Huskies as they fell behind 23-14, but they never quit fighting. Kaydence Marshall started a furious comeback attempt with a kill and Matti Phillips followed it with an ace.
Josie Graham and Marhsall scored on back-to-back tips to cut the Lady Knights’ lead to 23-20, but then Skylar Olds landed a kill to put Providence within one point of the win.
North Greene’s first lead of the set came at 25-24 when Graham snuck over another tip. The Lady Huskies led again at 28-27 when Phillips pushed the ball deep to the back line. The Lady Knights then got going again with a kill from Myla Johnson and tip from Kinley Painter for the 30-28 win.
The Lady Huskies carried the momentum they took from the end of the first into the second set took an early 8-4 lead after Marshall put down a kill from the right side. Back-to-back kills from Graham moved that lead to 12-8.
The Lady Knights came back and took the lead at 14-13 after Quinn Johnson, Painter, Olds and Myla Johnson all got kills past North Greene.
North Greene’s Loren Blevins evened the score at 16-16 with an ace, and another ace by Phillips put the Lady Huskies up 20-17. Graham finished the 25-21 win with a kill that evened things at one set a piece.
In the third set against Providence the Lady Huskies took command at 6-4 on a kill from Philips. Phillips then took to the service line with a 10-5 advantage and stretched the lead to 14-5. Phillips had two aces in the run and Kallie Dobson scored on a block and a tip.
Consecutive blocks by Hannah Miller pushed North Greene’s lead to 19-7. In the closing stretch Phillips had two kills and Blevins had one on the way to a 25-12 Lady Huskies’ victory.
In the opening set with Gatlinburg-Pittman the Lady Highlanders took a 6-4 lead on an ace from Whitney Donald.
Errors from the Lady Huskies and two aces by Hailey Watson increased that lead to 14-7. The Lady Huskies struggled to land kills in the set and gave away 11 points on missed swings, the Lady Highlanders took advantage and claimed a 25-17 win.
In the second set the Lady Huskies jumped in front 5-1, but again errors let Gatlinburg close the gap to 7-6.
Phillips got things going for North Greene with a kill and then Mercy Buchanan pushed the lead to 11-6 when she sent a free ball to the back line.
North Greene led 18-10 after kills from Blevins and Phillips and an ace from Graham. From there the Lady Huskies finished the set with a 25-14 win.
In the third set the Lady Highlanders quickly claimed an 8-2 lead. The Lady Huskies were able to come back and tie things at 11-11 after Marshall landed two aces while the Blevins scored on a push and Graham hammered a kill from the left side.
With Marshall still serving North Greene took a 16-11 lead. Blevins and Graham each added kills as the lead swung in the Lady Huskies favor.
Gatlinburg was able to close the gap to 19-18 on an ace from Whitney Donald. Graham finished out the 25-21 North Greene win with a first-hit kill, a sneaky tip and then scored on a free ball.
