CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- Cleveland remained red hot on the volleyball court Monday as the Lady Raiders raced to a 3-0 sweep over Bradey Central on “Pink Out” inside Raider Arena.
Proceeds from the “Pink Out” to help bring awareness to breast cancer will go to support the Mary Ellen Locker Scholarship Fund.
“We took care of business tonight,” said Lady Raiders head coach Amy McGowan.
After a close battle in Set 1 that saw Cleveland eventually come away with a 25-18 win, the Lady Raiders cruised to victories in the final two sets by scores of 25-18 and 25-13.
The Lady Raiders — ranked No. 4 in the state by Maxpreps — currently hold a record of 30-8 and sit atop the District 5-AAA heap with a perfect 6-0 mark.
Cleveland took an early 4-0 lead to open the night, but a kill but Bradley's Laney Inman sparked a Bearettes run that saw the visitors rally to a an 8-8 tie on the strength of another Inman kill and a shot to the floor by Kimora Fields. Minutes later Ashlyn Stuman served up an ace to give Bradley an 11-10 lead. The Lady Raiders came back with blasts by Lilly O'Bryan to go up 13-12 until Ava Wenger knotted the score at 13-13 with a kill for the Bearettes. Lauren Hurst and Gunny Brock gave the advantage back to Cleveland and a Ava Franklin ace made it 18-15. O'Bryan put the Lady Raiders out front 20-17 and Cleveland closed out the set with the final four points for the 25-18 win.
“We missed seven serves. We just couldn't get into a rhythm,” said McGowan.
Momentum dropped into the laps of the Lady Raiders in set two as Cleveland rolled to a 6-0 lead on the strength of two aces by Brick and kills by O'Bryan and Hurst added to a Kinslee McGowan block. The run continued with Cleveland moving to an 11-3 lead. A Taylor Michaelis ace made it 14-5 and a Audra Capps ace helped put Cleveland on top 20-7. The Lady Raiders notched four of the next five points highlighted by a McGowan ace. The Bearettes, behind a pair of Alissa Cross aces grabbed four straight points before Hurst closed out the set with a final kill.
Brock opened the final set of the night in a big way for the Lady Raiders sending six consecutive aces over the nylons. Hurst added a pair of kills to help Cleveland to a 9-1 lead. Cleveland's streak of nine straight points made it 18-3. Addison Brock had an ace while O'Bryan and Lauren Hurst booked kills. Two aces from Lauren Hurst helped make it 22-4. Kaeley Williams served up two late aces for the Bearettes, but it was not enough as Cleveland closed out the sweep with a 25-10 final.
“I feel like we took control especially the last two sets. Our serving was very, very aggressive and that was hard for them,” McGowan said.
“I thought the night was awesome. There was a lot of support. I feel like this was the biggest crowd we had for Pink Out for breast cancer awareness The funds we raise go to the Mary Ellen Locher Foundation Scholarship Fund.”
(Contact Richard Roberts at richardvol55@yahoo.com)