The West Greene volleyball team finished Thursday night feeling good after taking down North Greene 3-1 and is hoping to turn that into some positive momentum heading toward the upcoming postseason.
“I felt like the girls played really well tonight,” West Greene coach Raven Borie said. “They played together as a team. We’ve talked to them about playing too careful late in close games. I felt like there at the end tonight when it was close they did a good job of staying aggressive.”
The Lady Buffaloes collected the 3-1 win by scores of 25-15, 19-25, 25-15, 26-24.
While West Greene’s first two set wins were lopsided, they had to fight to close out the night and Borie if hopeful the come-from-behind win is a sign of growth from her squad.
West Greene took the lead first in the final set, and after a four-point stretch that saw Deborah Julian score on a pair of blocks while Journey Lamons tipped one around the defense the Lady Buffaloes were in front 11-7.
North Greene fought back and tied things at 14-14 when Cadie McDevitt made an emphatic block from the middle.
The Lady Buffaloes created breathing room again at 20-15. Aleea Aiken landed an ace and pushed one to the back line, Khalie Edwards sent a kill down the line and Lamons tricked the block with another tip.
North Greene rallied once again and Tralyn Southerland came up with a block and two kills from the middle sandwiched around an ace from Kenzie Burns. That tied things at 21-21.
Julian sparked West Greene with a quick swing from the left side and kept the Lady Buffs in front with a block on the next play.
West Greene finished the 26-24 win and the night with kills from Morgan Moody and Lamons.
“In the timeout I just told them to breathe,” Borie said. “Sometimes when we get in the those moments we just have to reevaluate. I think that helped them regain focus. They realized how important it was to win right there, because a fifth set was going to be really tough.”
Thursday’s first set stayed close early but Aiken gave went West Greene the first advantage at 12-8 when she ended a long volley with a tip to open space. Thursday’s contest was filled with long volleys as both defense worked hard to keep plays alive and limit the other side’s attack, but West Greene’s back line was able to make a few more plays.
“I’m really proud of my defense, they were great,” Borie said. “But it was the same on the other side. If you paid to get in tonight you got your money’s worth because it was a really good game. It was fun game with both teams running all over the place. But that backline was really important in allowing to stay in our offense.”
The Lady Buffaloes’ lead grew to 18-10 after Carleigh Williams and Lamons each put down kills from the right side.
In the closing stretch West Greene got two more kills from Lamons on the way to a 25-15 win.
North Greene got the second set started with a pair of kills from Chloe Grubb as it jumped in front 4-1.
Helped by West Greene mistakes that lead grew to 12-4 with Kinlea Eastep putting down two kills from the left side and McDevitt hammering one from the middle.
North Greene returned the favor of giving away points and West Greene closed the gap to 12-9 with its only attacking point coming on a down-the-line kill from Aiken.
Eastep stopped the streak with a first-hit kill and Southerland followed with a hard hit from the middle of the net.
West Greene was able to get within one point at 17-16 on an ace by Aiken, but a missed kill attempt on the next play gave the serve back to North Greene.
The Lady Huskies went on to win 25-19.
In the third set Madi Evan served West Greene to a 4-0 lead, but a kill by North Greene’s Grubb closed the gap to 5-4.
North Greene tied things three times in quick succession but a slam by Julian gave the Lady Buffaloes the lead for good at 10-9.
After two aces from Williams the lead moved to 16-10.
In West Greene’s final five points of the 25-15 win Lamons had a kill and a block while Moody and Williams each had a kill.
West Greene’s win on Thursday splits the season series between the two District 1-A teams. They will likely meet again in the District 1-A Tournament semifinals, and Borie is hopeful Thursday’s result will give her team confidence going into the postseason.
“I think this helps a little bit with confidence. We didn’t play our best the last time we played them. It was nice to see them take care of those things tonight. I’m sure we are going to see them again. With the split now we know we can beat them,” Borie said.
South Greene is currently unbeaten in league play, West Greene has two losses and North Greene now has three losses to district opponents. South Greene and West Greene meet next week.
