Lady Flyers Falter After Strong First Set Against Johnson and Wales

The Sandhills Community College volleyball team treated its fans to an almost error-free first set in Monday evening's home opener at Heins Gymnasium against Johnson and Wales University.

In an almost stunning reversal of fortunes the visitors from the four-year college in Charlotte bounced back to take the next three sets and hand the Lady Flyers a 25-15, 7-25, 20-25 and 21-25 defeat.

Coach Alicia Riggan's squad takes a record of 0-2 into Wednesday's 6 p.m. match in Laurinburg against the St. Andrews junior varsity. The Wildcats improved to 5-0.

"We went out with a lot of energy for our first home game and it was very exciting," Riggan said afterward. "Then in the second set I felt like I didn't even know who this team was. I've never seen anything like it."

Leading 13-11 in the first set, Erica Groff was serving while Paige Garner, Chandler Adams and Derriya Robertson contributed kills to help expand the advantage to 19-11. The final two points came from a win at the net by Morgan McCarthy and a passing error by one of the Wildcats.

"I told the girls going into the second set that this is a team that isn't going to back down," Riggan said. "I told them you're going to have to earn every point and play like it's your last game."

The Flyers did not get a single point off a serve in the one-sided second set that included two service runs of seven points each by the Wildcats. Following a break between sets, Paige Garner had three of her team-high 16 kills as the Flyers jumped out to 6-3 lead in the third. Trailing later, another kill by Garner shaved the Wildcat lead to 21-20, but the visitors scored the next four points to take a 2-1 edge in sets.

The Flyers led 13-11 in the fourth before a physical win at the net by 5-foot-4 setter Cheyenne Brown sparked a run that included three more kills by Garner. The last one was a clever tip off a set by Brown that made it 20-13.

Defeated in five sets by Wake Tech in their opening match last Wednesday, Riggan had visions of her team taking this one to a fifth and having a chance to finish the job this time.

"She (Wildcat coach Callie Phillips) calls a timeout and they chip away," the Flyer coach said.

With Lucy Hermann leading the way in the hitting department, the much taller Wildcats went on to win 12 of the final 13 points to close out the match.

Garner led the Flyers with 16 kills. Brown finished with 28 assists and 14 digs. Groff was credited with 29 digs and Adams contributed eight kills and 15 digs.

The Lady Flyers have struggled with inconsistency in their first two matches particularly in the area of ball control.

"It is beyond disappointing," Brown, a sophomore, said. "One time we'll get seven points in a row and two seconds later we let them rally on us.

"It's definitely something we're going to have to work on. I don't know if this is a team connection thing or we're just not believing in ourselves."

A good crowd at The Hangar included members of the men's basketball and women's golf teams. Roderick Brower, the Chief Information Officer at the college, sang the National Anthem. The Johnson and Wales squad included former Pinecrest High School volleyball player Samantha Creech.

C.Bergmann

Photo By: William Barner