Grace Academy's Lexie Mullins scores with one of her five kills to lead the Lady Golden Eagles past Silverdale Baptist Academy Thursday night at the Lady Seahawks' gym. Mullins also accounted for two aces as Grace took a key District 5-A win, 3-1.
photo by Dennis Norwood
The Grace Academy volleyball team had several reasons to play well at Silverdale on Thursday night, not to mention that it was head coach Hillary Waters’ birthday.
Facing the Lady Seahawks in a key District 5-A match, the Lady Golden Eagles did what they had to do as they won the match in four sets as they improved to 6-2 overall and 3-0 in 5-A.
Set scores were 25-15, 25-16, 20-25 and 25-21.
Waters had a nice day prior to the start of the match, so the win against a district foe on the road was just icing on the cake as the day finished off on a positive note.
“Silverdale has an outstanding team and they fought hard against us, but we were able to bounce back in that fourth set,” Waters said after her girls had sung “Happy Birthday” to her following the match.
“We got into a nice flow in those first two sets and we play so much better when we do, but it was a good battle all the way to the end. It was a huge district match and for us to win on the road is even bigger.
“Lexie Mullins was the key to our win. She brings so much spunk and energy to this team and it seems to rub off, but she helped us put it out. Without her, I’m not sure what would have happened,” Waters praised.
Four straight service points from Mullins allowed Grace to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 6-3 lead in the first set, but it was the momentum from eight straight service points from Maggie Long that extended a 14-11 lead to 22-11 before Alexandra Smith finished off the set with a kill from the Golden Eagles.
Long’s serving in the second set was critical once more as six straight points allowed Grace to break open a close score from an 8-8 tie to a 14-8 lead.
A pair of kills by Smith with one by Kea Vonnoh in the middle extended the Grace advantage to 23-12 and the set ended a minute later when the Lady Seahawks made a couple of hitting errors.
A kill from Emma Dale and a couple of aces from Dale allowed Silverdale to grab a 5-1 lead in the third set.
Seven straight service points from Smith – including a couple of aces – allowed Grace to take the upper hand at 12-7, but Silverdale wasn’t ready to surrender.
With Falyn Blalock reeling off seven straight service points, the Lady Seahawks turned a 14-12 deficit into a 19-14 lead and the Lady Golden Eagles were never able to recover.
A service error by Smith was the deciding point for Silverdale.
The fourth set was close for a while, but five service points from Smith early combined with six more from Autumn Parrott a minute later stretched the Grace lead to 20-9.
Inspired play up front from Silverdale’s Kenzie Manning, Caroline Dale, Kayleigh Page and Katie Patrick allowed the Lady Seahawks to get within 24-21, but a kill by Parrott clinched the set and the match for Grace.
“We played hard and competed well, but we’re still young and improving,” said Silverdale coach Nathan Daugherty later.
“There were times when we played really well, but we just need to learn how to play better for longer stretches at a time. We played with a lot of passion today and we knew our blocking up front would be critical.
“Our front row really played well with Kayleigh, Caroline, Katie and Kenzie, but we just need to improve our passing. The potential is there. It really hurt when Gracie Pierce got hurt (a torn ACL and is out for the season), so we need to grow up quickly,” Daugherty said, noting that Thursday was his oldest daughter Mae’s fifth birthday.
Smith had 13 kills and 21 digs in addition to six aces to lead Grace while Long had 30 digs. Parrott finished with nine kills and three aces.
Silverdale’s Patrick, a talented sophomore, had nine blocks to lead her team while Page and Manning both had five blocks apiece.
Emma Dale had nine kills while Blalock finished with a dozen assists and Emmaline Hale seven digs.
Grace will host Copper Basin on Tuesday while Silverdale, now 5-9 overall and 1-1 in 5-A, will host Howard on Monday.
HIXSON IMPROVED to 5-4 with a 3-0 non-district win over Lookout Valley, the Lady Wildcats winning by scores of 25-15, 25-17 and 25-19. The Chattanooga Christian Lady Chargers weren't as fortunate as they came out on the short end of a 3-0 match at GPS, the Bruisers prevailing by scores of 25-17, 25-22 and 27-25.
GRACE STATS:
Autumn Parrott – 9 kills, 3 aces
Lexie Mullins – 5 kills 2 aces
Megan Long – 2 kills, 1 ace, 5 digs
Summer Dean – 5 kills, 4 digs
Holley Fulgham – 2 kills
Maggie Long – 3 kills, 1 ace, 30 digs
Alexandra Smith – 13 kills, 6 aces, 21 digs
Kea Vonnoh – 2 kills
Julianna Hill – 5 digs.
SILVERDALE STATS:
Kayleigh Page – 5 blocks, 3 kills
Emma Dale – 4 digs, 3 aces, 9 kills
Harper Sutton – 7 digs, 1 ace
Katie Patrick – 1 ace, 9 blocks, 2 kills
Savannah Gann – 6 assists
Emmaline Hale – 7 digs
Kenzie Manning – 2 aces, 5 blocks, 3 kills
Caroline Dale – 2 blocks
Sarah Kestila – 1 kill
Falyn Blalock – 1 ace, 12 assists.
HIXSON STATS:
Dakota Rawiszer -- 3 aces, 5 kills, 5 digs
Sam Dove -- 1 ace, 3 kills, 1 block, 27 assists, 14 digs
Courtney Jones -- 13 kills,1 dig
Abby Rector -- 4 kills, 1 dig
Shelby Rector -- 1 ace, 1 block, 3 digs
Samantha McKee -- 2 aces, 5 kills, 14 digs
Rachel Cline -- 3 aces, 11 digs
Marly Fitzpatrick -- 4 digs
Anna Zeigler -- 2 aces, 2 digs
Sydni Byerley -- 1 kill, 1 dig
Gabby Tench -- 5 digs.
CHATTANOOGA CHRISTIAN STATS:
Cassie Curry -- 8 kills, 3 aces, 4 digs
A.J. Johnson -- 12 kills, 2 digs
Anna Linkous -- 1 kill, 1 ace, 8 digs
Rachel Kay -- 15 assists
Bailey Lancaster -- 5 assists
Grace Logterman -- 1 block, 1 ace
Allison Hughes -- 3 digs
Brieanna Hemphill -- 5 kills, 1 block.
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)
Silverdale's Kenzie Manning (24) slaps a kill shot between Grace's Alexandra Smith (14) and Kea Vonnah (11). Manning led the Lady Seahawks with two aces, five blocks and five kills.
photo by Dennis Norwood