Streaking Lady Flyers Beat The Storm for Sixth Win in a Row
In a match featuring one long rally after another the Lady Flyers scrapped their way to a 25-22, 15-25, 27-25 and 25-21 victory over Davidson County Community College at The Hangar Wednesday evening.
Coach Alicia Riggan's squad improved to 8-4 overall and 3-0 in Region X with their sixth win in a row. The Storm dropped to 5-5 and 3-2. Patrick Henry CC leads the conference with a record of 5-0.
"It was just electrifying to be in the gym tonight and get another conference win," the Flyers' coach said. "It was like you were on the edge of your seat watching your team work so hard to win that rally. It kind of set the tone for the game that when you won a rally you would rattle off several points in a row. It was the same thing for Davidson."
The Flyers led 21-14 in the first set before The Storm closed the gap to 23-22. Then an emphatic kill by middle hitter Paige Garner, and a tip by outside hitter Holly Martindale, gave them the 1-0 lead. The momentum then swung to the visitors with a one-sided win in the second set.
The third was knotted up at 8-8 when Morgan McCarthy dominated at the net with four kills during an eight-point service run by Chandler Adams.
"Once you get hyped it's like you feel unstoppable," McCarthy, a Carolina Christian graduate said. "You know your team is with you and it's the best feeling ever. It helps to have the great sets from Leah (Salzwedel)."
An ace by Adams made it 16-9, but the Storm fought back to go ahead 25-24. McCarthy had another kill as the Flyers took the next three points to take a 2-1 lead.
The fourth set provided the enthusiastic Moore County Night crowd with more of the same. Tied at 21-21, the Flyers ran off four points in a row. The last one came on one of the highlight sequences of the season when Garner went up to block a Storm attack, got the ball right back and finished it.
In a relentless effort to run down Storm attacks, libero Erica Groff, 37, Adams, 19, Martindale, 13 and Salzwedel, 11 were all in double figures in digs. Salzwedel also finished with 32 assists.
"I think our team played up to its potential tonight," Groff, a product of Pinecrest High School said. "We're really scrappy and like to go after every ball and keep it in play. We were tired, but we still had enough left to go through all five sets if we had to."
Riggan felt the pressure Garner and McCarthy put on the Storm hitters at the net was a big factor in the win. Garner was credited with five solo blocks and McCarthy had three. The pair also had 13 and 10 kills respectively.
"It was nice to see a very competitive conference match because we hadn't had one yet," the coach said. "I think playing the non-conference games against all the Division II schools helped us on the long rallies."
Next for the Lady Flyers is a conference double-header at Danville CC on Saturday (3 p.m. and 5 p.m.). The injury that has sidelined sophomore Cheyenne Brown for the last four matches has been diagnosed as a bad sprain.
The National Anthem was sung by Pinecrest sophomore Cassidy Stoltenberg who is Miss Randolph County's Outstanding Teen for the year 2016.
C. Bergmann/Photos Donna Ford
