Lynchburg-Clay rallies for SHAC road win against rival Whiteoak
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
MOWRYSTOWN — Down two sets early on against the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats, it was the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs who rallied to win the next three sets to gain the “needed” conference victory Tuesday night.
Whiteoak started out strong by winning the first two sets at 25-21 and 25-23, but next came set wins by the Lady Mustangs at 25-20, 25-14 and 15-5, for LC to improve to 6-10 overall and 6-6 in the SHAC.
“We’ve put ourselves into these kind of situations all year when we’ve been ahead in sets and we just let them get away at the end,” LCHS head coach Mark Faust said. “We turned that page tonight, battled through and we got a win we desperately needed.
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“Katie McLaughlin was the difference for us more than anything else. She is a good all-around player and has gotten better as the season has went along. Brooklyn [Laymon] had 14 kills, and she played well offensively. Abby Pitzer, her energy and her desire to win was infectious. She had 31 assists, five kills, and five aces. She really wanted to be here tonight. She led the offensive attack, but we had a very balanced offensive attack.”
WHS head coach Katie Pollard spoke about her team as well following the match.
“Our digging errors is what got us, and we had more service errors than we usually do,” Pollard said. “We just don’t normally have that. I thought our serve receive was going to be bad, but there were a couple rotations where it was good.
“I really wanted the win for the girls. We played great the first two games, and giving up those last three … it is just tough. I don’t know if we got relaxed or just went through the motions, but for the most part, if we can play like we did the first two games all the time, it would have been a different outcome.”
The first set, which was won by the host Lady ’Cats, was tied just two times very early in the set. Once the 2-2 tied score was broken by Whiteoak, though, they never lost the lead, winning the first set by four points.
WHS began set one with an ace by Cylee Bratton, and following points scored by Destiny Price and Jeanette Cox, the Lady ’Cats had built a lead of 4-2. As the set continued, Brooklyn Laymon of Lynchburg-Clay scored a point at the net, but that was answered with a point off a hit from Whiteoak’s Sydney Scott for a 6-3 lead.
The first set continued with LC having points scored off hard hits by Katie McLaughlin and an ace by Laymon for a 7-5 deficit for LCHS. WHS later moved their lead to 10-5 with the help of a serve by Kiley Hamilton.
Later in the first set, Price increased the WHS lead to 14-8, but LC came back with a big hit for a point by Laymon to bring LC within two points of WHS at 17-15. WHS responded with an ace by Hamilton for a 19-15 advantage, and later a point scored at the net by Cox pushed the WHS lead to 21-16. The first set eventually came to a close with a point scored by Hamilton.
The second set was much more intense with the score being tied anywhere from 1-1 all the way to 23-23, with it being tied a total of 11 times. For WHS, there were points scored by Hamilton, Cox and Bratton, as an ace by the senior Bratton gave WHS a lead of 13-10 at one point in the set. LC had some of their points scored in that same span by Natalie Gray, McLaughlin and Allison Kohus.
Whiteoak moved their lead to 16-11 with an ace by Bratton and a point by Alex Greene. LC tied the score at 17 with the help of an ace by Laymon, and a point scored at the net off a hit from Serene Walker gave the Lady Mustangs at the lead at 18-17. There were more points to be scored by LC as McLaughlin had a kill for LCHS, and later she helped add another point for a 21-17 LC lead.
WHS fought back, with points by Cox, Hamilton and Cox again, as that point tied the score at 23-23. The final two points of the second set came with a point from Cox, followed by the final point coming off a ball that was hit out of play by LC off a serve from Whiteoak’s Price.
Set three included the Lady Mustangs leading early at 3-2 with the play of Laymon and McLaughlin. The set continued with LC leading, but Whiteoak’s Scott got the Lady ’Cats to within a point at 6-5, and again WHS made it a one-point deficit off a hit from Scott again.
The score continued to be closely contested with the scored being tied at 12-12 following a big-time block by Cox. LC broke a 15-all tie when Elizabeth Myers scored a point off a serve, putting LC in front. LC increased their lead with a point at the net by Laymon. LC didn’t lose the lead for the rest of set three, winning by five points at 25-20.
Though Whiteoak held the match lead at 2-1 after three sets, the fourth set tied that all up with LC taking control after the score was tied at 13-13. LC broke the tied score with a serve from Ashley Ernst, and from there they added to the advantage, eventually leading 20-13 after a point was scored by Ernst once again off a serve. LC built an 11-0 run against the hosts, leading by a 21-13 score after trailing 13-10.
The fourth set ended off a four-point string of points by LCHS, with some of those points being scored by Laymon, and the final point was an ace by Abby Pitzer.
Set five (first to score 15) saw close play early on with Cox putting WHS ahead at 2-0, only to see LC tie the score following a serve from Ernst. The score was tied at 3-3 with Laymon gaining a kill, and for WHS it was a point at the net from Cox.
LC took the lead for good by going ahead at 4-3, and later with points from Pitzer, Amber DeBoard, Kohus and a serve from Pitzer, LC increased their lead to 9-3.
The lead then went to 13-4 with points off hits by Laymon (a block and hit), plus points off a hit by Ernst. DeBoard put LC in front at 14-5, and the final point was scored, winning the match off a play at the net by Laymon.
Coach Pollard of Whiteoak spoke about her team.
“Allie Kiley had some really good hits and some smart choices,” she said. “Kiley Hamilton in the first couple games was really getting a lot of attacks and making the team move. As long as we made the other team move we were fine, but then we got too cautious. Jeanette Cox also had a great net game for us. Lynchburg-Clay is a fast team, and they play hard. They are a good team, but this is a tough loss.”
Whiteoak started out strong by winning the first two sets at 25-21 and 25-23, but next came set wins by the Lady Mustangs at 25-20, 25-14 and 15-5, for LC to improve to 6-10 overall and 6-6 in the SHAC.
“We’ve put ourselves into these kind of situations all year when we’ve been ahead in sets and we just let them get away at the end,” LCHS head coach Mark Faust said. “We turned that page tonight, battled through and we got a win we desperately needed.
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“Katie McLaughlin was the difference for us more than anything else. She is a good all-around player and has gotten better as the season has went along. Brooklyn [Laymon] had 14 kills, and she played well offensively. Abby Pitzer, her energy and her desire to win was infectious. She had 31 assists, five kills, and five aces. She really wanted to be here tonight. She led the offensive attack, but we had a very balanced offensive attack.”
WHS head coach Katie Pollard spoke about her team as well following the match.
“Our digging errors is what got us, and we had more service errors than we usually do,” Pollard said. “We just don’t normally have that. I thought our serve receive was going to be bad, but there were a couple rotations where it was good.
“I really wanted the win for the girls. We played great the first two games, and giving up those last three … it is just tough. I don’t know if we got relaxed or just went through the motions, but for the most part, if we can play like we did the first two games all the time, it would have been a different outcome.”
The first set, which was won by the host Lady ’Cats, was tied just two times very early in the set. Once the 2-2 tied score was broken by Whiteoak, though, they never lost the lead, winning the first set by four points.
WHS began set one with an ace by Cylee Bratton, and following points scored by Destiny Price and Jeanette Cox, the Lady ’Cats had built a lead of 4-2. As the set continued, Brooklyn Laymon of Lynchburg-Clay scored a point at the net, but that was answered with a point off a hit from Whiteoak’s Sydney Scott for a 6-3 lead.
The first set continued with LC having points scored off hard hits by Katie McLaughlin and an ace by Laymon for a 7-5 deficit for LCHS. WHS later moved their lead to 10-5 with the help of a serve by Kiley Hamilton.
Later in the first set, Price increased the WHS lead to 14-8, but LC came back with a big hit for a point by Laymon to bring LC within two points of WHS at 17-15. WHS responded with an ace by Hamilton for a 19-15 advantage, and later a point scored at the net by Cox pushed the WHS lead to 21-16. The first set eventually came to a close with a point scored by Hamilton.
The second set was much more intense with the score being tied anywhere from 1-1 all the way to 23-23, with it being tied a total of 11 times. For WHS, there were points scored by Hamilton, Cox and Bratton, as an ace by the senior Bratton gave WHS a lead of 13-10 at one point in the set. LC had some of their points scored in that same span by Natalie Gray, McLaughlin and Allison Kohus.
Whiteoak moved their lead to 16-11 with an ace by Bratton and a point by Alex Greene. LC tied the score at 17 with the help of an ace by Laymon, and a point scored at the net off a hit from Serene Walker gave the Lady Mustangs at the lead at 18-17. There were more points to be scored by LC as McLaughlin had a kill for LCHS, and later she helped add another point for a 21-17 LC lead.
WHS fought back, with points by Cox, Hamilton and Cox again, as that point tied the score at 23-23. The final two points of the second set came with a point from Cox, followed by the final point coming off a ball that was hit out of play by LC off a serve from Whiteoak’s Price.
Set three included the Lady Mustangs leading early at 3-2 with the play of Laymon and McLaughlin. The set continued with LC leading, but Whiteoak’s Scott got the Lady ’Cats to within a point at 6-5, and again WHS made it a one-point deficit off a hit from Scott again.
The score continued to be closely contested with the scored being tied at 12-12 following a big-time block by Cox. LC broke a 15-all tie when Elizabeth Myers scored a point off a serve, putting LC in front. LC increased their lead with a point at the net by Laymon. LC didn’t lose the lead for the rest of set three, winning by five points at 25-20.
Though Whiteoak held the match lead at 2-1 after three sets, the fourth set tied that all up with LC taking control after the score was tied at 13-13. LC broke the tied score with a serve from Ashley Ernst, and from there they added to the advantage, eventually leading 20-13 after a point was scored by Ernst once again off a serve. LC built an 11-0 run against the hosts, leading by a 21-13 score after trailing 13-10.
The fourth set ended off a four-point string of points by LCHS, with some of those points being scored by Laymon, and the final point was an ace by Abby Pitzer.
Set five (first to score 15) saw close play early on with Cox putting WHS ahead at 2-0, only to see LC tie the score following a serve from Ernst. The score was tied at 3-3 with Laymon gaining a kill, and for WHS it was a point at the net from Cox.
LC took the lead for good by going ahead at 4-3, and later with points from Pitzer, Amber DeBoard, Kohus and a serve from Pitzer, LC increased their lead to 9-3.
The lead then went to 13-4 with points off hits by Laymon (a block and hit), plus points off a hit by Ernst. DeBoard put LC in front at 14-5, and the final point was scored, winning the match off a play at the net by Laymon.
Coach Pollard of Whiteoak spoke about her team.
“Allie Kiley had some really good hits and some smart choices,” she said. “Kiley Hamilton in the first couple games was really getting a lot of attacks and making the team move. As long as we made the other team move we were fine, but then we got too cautious. Jeanette Cox also had a great net game for us. Lynchburg-Clay is a fast team, and they play hard. They are a good team, but this is a tough loss.”