Hixson's Riley Bellamy (20) splits the defense of East Hamilton's Julia Culpepper, left, and McKenna Hayes (1)in a match played Wednesday evening at the Lady Hurricanes' gymnasium. East Hamilton swept the Lady Wildcats 3-0 (25-12, 25-23, 25-16).
photo by Dennis Norwood
Arguably the best two volleyball teams in Class AA-District 6 squared off on Wednesday night at East Hamilton as the Lady Hurricanes hosted the Hixson Lady Wildcats. The two programs have faced each other in the last three district championships, with East Hamilton sweeping each one.
While each teams boast younger rosters after losing key pieces from last year’s squad, the story was still the same as East Hamilton swept the visitors by scores of 25-12, 25-22, and 25-16.
The Lady Hurricanes were led by Tristin and Amya Sutton, who had seven and four aces respectively, while McKenna Hayes also had five kills. East Hamilton finished with 16 aces for the match.
“We are learning how to compete until 25,” said Lady Hurricanes coach Antonela Suzuki. “At the beginning of the season, we would play well until 15 or 16. Then if the other team would get on a run, we would just stall right there. We competed in a tournament this past weekend, and that really helped us spend more time together, and to work on our team chemistry. We’re really focused on the process, and as coaches, we’re pleased. They’re excited, and it’s another day that we got an opportunity to play.”
East Hamilton jumped out to an early lead in the first set, something that would become a familiar theme throughout the contest, taking a 7-2 lead highlighted by two kills from Megan Lewis set up by Tristin. While Hixson closed the gap to 10-6 a few minutes later, an 8-0 run that included four aces from Amya effectively put things out of reach as the hosts won the opening set handily.
Working off the early momentum, the Lady Hurricanes scored the first eight points of the second set behind three aces by Tristin, as the match up until that point had been completely dominated by East Hamilton.
The Lady Wildcats fought back however, rattling off five points of their own capped by a kill from Morgan Delashmitt. A kill by Hayes stopped the rally briefly, but a strong block from Hixson’s Riley Bellamy fired up her team and the visiting fans. Hixson continued to try to seize momentum as they fought all the way back to tie the set at 13 apiece.
That was as close as they would get, however. Despite the Lady Wildcats pulling to within one point six times over the second half of the set, East Hamilton never relinquished the lead. A side-out by Hixson that cut the deficit to 23-20 then led to back-to-back points on another block by Bellamy and an ace from Jenna Westfall. The Lady Hurricanes closed out the set on a strike by Lewis that barely grazed the finger of Bellamy before going long.
In what seemed like déjà vu all over again, East Hamilton struck for a quick 6-1 lead in the third set as Hixson had yet again dug themselves an early hole.
“At the varsity level, it’s hard to recover from being down big points like that,” Hixson coach Robert Catlett said. “It’s all about getting a good start. But this is only our fifth match, so we’re trying to get into the groove and build chemistry. I like this team; they get along good and work well together. Tonight just wasn’t their night.”
“I saw some of my younger players get aces tonight, and some of my older ones didn’t. We had four aces tonight, and against Signal Mountain we had 20 (in a five-set loss). We just have to take care of the ball and put it in the right places, which has been my common theme.”
The two teams traded points for much of the third set, and it appeared Hixson still had some life left as they closed the gap to three points at 18-15.
East Hamilton slammed the door on its next serve, however, which started with a kill from Julia Culpepper on a perfect set by Tristin Sutton. That was followed by two aces from Angelia Seder and a kill by Morgan Bone. Amya Sutton hammered the ball home moments later to put a exclamation point on the victory.
“We talk before each match about how we approach every match like it’s a championship,” Suzuki said. “That’s preparation that we still need to work on, but we play the same no matter who is on the other side. Our quote for the day was from (U.S. women’s soccer player) Mia Hamm that after the game I want to be able to say I gave it my all. That’s the mentality we want to build, and then the score will take care of itself.”
Bellamy led Hixson with six kills and three blocks, while Ava Rogers had five kills and 11 digs. Anna Johnston had nine digs and five assists, and Jordan Westfall had seven assists.
East Hamilton 3, Hixson 0
East Hamilton 25 25 25
Hixson 12 22 16
East Hamilton – Amya Sutton 4 aces, 4 k; Tristin Sutton 7 aces; McKenna Hayes 5 k; Megan Lewis 3 aces.
Hixson – Riley Bellamy 6 k, 3 b; Ava Rogers 5 k, 11 d; Anna Johnston 9 d, 5 a; Jordan Westfall 7 a.
(E-mail Kevin Llewallyn at kevin.llewallyn@gmail.com)