The Boyd Buchanan Lady Buccaneer volleyball team opened its season on with a road trip to Atlanta where they won one match and lost the other.
It was a late night for the players and coaches, but they really didn’t have time to catch their breath or to even feel sorry for themselves as they turned right around and played another match on the road Tuesday evening at Hixson.
The Lady Bucs are now 2-1 on the season after Tuesday’s 3-0 sweep where Boyd Buchanan won by scores of 25-15, 25-23 and 25-19.
“I’m just happy that we could finish when we had to, but I’m tired and ready to go home,” said Boyd Buchanan coach Shanda Kirk following Tuesday’s match.
“I thought we did a good job of using all of our hitters and our defense was great, which allowed us to do a better job of running our offense.
“But we were able to persevere and pull it out, so I’m really happy about that,” Kirk added.
An ace from Jordan Westfall to open the match gave Hixson an early 1-0 lead, but the Bucs got six straight service points from Caitlyn Kruse for a 6-2 lead and Hixson never regained the lead.
The Lady Wildcats kept battling and were within five points at 20-15 before a service error sent the serve back to Boyd’s side and they finished with four straight service points from Cali Sandhoff, including two aces.
Hixson was able to pick up the tempo a bit more in the second and third sets. Even though they didn’t win either, it was much more competitive than the first set.
The Lady Wildcats led 10-7 before the Lady Bucs tied it. A couple of back-to-back aces from Kruse put the visitors ahead 11-10.
A kill from Paris Simmons got Hixson within a point at 19-18, but the Lady Bucs maintained their poise and scored five of the next eight points before closing out the set on a kill by Isabella Messer.
The Lady Bucs built a 5-0 lead in the third set, but again, Hixson battled back and knotted the score at 18-18 following an ace by Simmons.
A Hixson service error gave the lead back to Boyd and Avery Poteralski finished out the match with five straight service points.
Messer’s kill clinched the win for the Lady Bucs.
Hixson coach Robert Catlett knows that nobody will win a championship in August, but playing tough teams early will only prove to be beneficial down the road, regardless of how those early matches turn out.
“I thought we came out flat as we only had one kill in the first set,” he began.
“We finally started playing in the second and third sets, but hitting and service errors killed us. We’re playing some hard-hitting teams early in the season and that will only help us as we get ready for district competition later.
“I’m really proud that we didn’t give up. We had a nice rally to tie the score in the third set and maybe could have won that one, but things just didn’t go our way. But we’ll keep working and things will be okay before it’s all over.
Hixson returns to action on Wednesday with a match at Signal Mountain while the Lady Bucs return to action on Saturday with a four-way meet at Chattanooga Christian involving Grace, East Hamilton and the host Lady Chargers.
Hixson will then host the Hixson Invitational at Hixson Middle School on Saturday with teams from Walker Valley, CSAS, Berean, Sequatchie County, Marion County, Loudon and the Chattanooga Patriots joining Hixson.
BOYD BUCHANAN STATS:
Calla Brady – 19 digs
Caitlyn Kruse – 13 digs, 17 assists, 7 aces
Isabella Messer – 11 digs, 8 kills
Cali Sandhoff – 5 kills, 7 assists, 2 blocks, 4 aces.
HIXSON STATS:
Ryleigh Quarles – 9 digs, 1 assist
Reese Hendrix – 2 aces, 10 digs, 3 kills
Paris Simmons – 3 aces, 7 digs, 5 kills
Eddy Brown – 1 dig, 1 kill, 2 blocks
Jordan Westfall – 1 ace, 13 digs, 7 assists
Macey Reagan – 6 digs, 3 kills
Melayna Buttry – 1 kill
Callie Liddell – 4 digs, 5 assists
Emily Lott – 3 digs
Charlee Bellamy – 2 digs, 1 assist, 1 kill, 1 block.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)