Lady Flyers Fall in Five in Season Opener

Sandhills Community College volleyball coach Alicia Riggan wasn't sure what to expect from her players when they reported for practice at 6:30 a.m. Thursday morning.

The Lady Flyers didn't arrive back at the college until 11 p.m. the night before after a season-opening 21-25, 26-24, 17-25, 26-24 and 14-16 loss at Wake Tech. They came from behind twice to win sets and led 10-6 in the tie-breaker before a disappointing ending.

"I came into the gym quiet, thinking about what I wanted to say," the coach said after the practice. "I wanted to see how they took it. They were energetic and positive and supporting each other. It was like that's over, let's get rolling. As a coach it's good to see that."

Next for the Lady Flyers is Monday's 6 p.m. home opener (Student Night) at Heins Gymnasium against Johnson and Wales University of Charlotte.

Even though the team had three scrimmages, Riggan thinks first-game jitters played a part in the Flyers falling behind 7-0 in the first set.

"Then we started playing and chipping away and stayed tight in each game," she said. "We were up 10-6 in the fifth set when their coach called a timeout. We made four quick mistakes and it was tied up. I'm thinking it's the first to five now."

The set was tied for the final time at 14-14 before the home team closed out the match.

"The girls never gave up," the coach said. "They were as frustrated as I was because they were so close."

There were plenty of positives that came out of the match against a Division II foe the Flyers have not defeated since 2013. Freshman middle blocker Paige Garner recorded 17 kills with only two attack errors to go with five digs and four solo blocks. Another first-year player, Erica Groff, was credited with 38 digs.

Returnees Cheyenne Brown (44 assists, 12 digs), Holly Martindale (14 kills, 12 digs) and Chandler Adams (11 kills, 17 digs) each reached double figures in two statistical categories. Freshman Leah Salzwedel contributed 10 digs.

Garner and outside hitter Martindale combined for 31 of the Flyers' 50 kills with only four errors between them. But Wake Tech finished with 16 service aces to only four for the Flyers.

"Our big issue last night was that our ball control was inconsistent,"Riggan said. "I look at our 50 kills and we should absolutely have won the game."

Before another early practice on Friday, Martindale talked about the loss serving as a wakeup call for the team.

"A lot of the girls said they were tired on the day that we played Wake Tech," she recalled. "I understand that because the preseason has been an exhausting process and we pushed through that really well.

"When we came to practice yesterday we knew we had to have a different mindset because this is real. This is the season now and we want to come out on top."

The Lady Flyers fell behind in each of the first three sets on Wednesday. That is something they will try hard to change against Johnson and Wales on Monday.

"We got into a hole and then we were so tired from fighting back," Martindale said. "We want to get out of that habit and get off to a better start."

By Charlie Bergmann