Lady Flyers Fall to Red Hawks in Region 10 Semifinal Match
The Sandhills Community College volleyball team was defeated 25-12, 25-9 and 25-21 on Friday by Catawba Valley CC in a semifinal match of the Region 10 tournament in Hickory.
The Lady Flyers were put back on their heels early by the Red Hawks' tough serving game that produced 14 service aces and also made it difficult for them to run their offense. The Flyers finished the match with only 17 kills and as many attack errors.
Playing in Division II for the first time, Coach Alicia Riggan's squad finished the season with an overall record of 16-5, including a 7-3 regular season mark in the conference. Later Friday, Catawba Valley (20-2, 10-0) went on the defeat Fayetteville Tech 3-1 in the championship match.
The Red Hawks are now qualified for the NJCAA National Championship to be played in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on April 13-15 as the Southeast District A champion. Runner-up Fayetteville Tech can also join the field by defeating Walters State for the Southeast District B title next Friday in Morristown, TN.
It was announced prior to the match that Morrigan Denman and Carley Modlin of the Flyers were named to the All-Region 10 first team. Camryn Lowe and Alexus McCrimmon were second team selections.
Additionally, Modlin was selected to be an All-American nominee and was later named to the all-tournament team.
Taking on a Catawba Valley CC team that had won 192 consecutive Region 10 matches was a tall order for the Lady Flyers. But the coaches and players were optimistic after coming within two points of sending their regular season match on March 6 into a tiebreaker set.
"The way the match started today," Riggan said, "we made the perfect pass off their serve and the perfect set. Carley crushes the ball and they (official) call us in the net. We let it effect the next five points.
"The roles were reversed the first time we played them and Catawba came back. It just seemed we couldn't get in a rhythm. We started to play a little better in the third set, but they had the energy and the momentum. The whole point was that we had to play the best we can play and minimize our errors."
As disheartening as ending a season with a tournament loss is for the players, especially the sophomores, on Monday, along with the coaches, they'll all head to the beach.
To the recently completed beach volleyball courts, that is, across the parking lot from The Dempsey Student Center, to prepare for the first Lady Flyers beach volleyball season.
A scrimmage against Wake Tech on April 10 will be followed by the Flyers Invitational on April 23-24.
Riggan is grateful for a season that almost didn't happen before being moved up from the fall to a January start because of COVID. It is anticipated that the Lady Flyers will return to Division III next season.
"I'm proud of the girls for stepping up to the challenge," she said. "We fought to get the tournament and deserved to get there, but today was not our best showing.
"There were 11 teams and we finished fourth in the regular season and in the tournament. The girls have a lot to be proud of."
C. Bergmann
