Lady Flyers Complete National Tournament on a High Note
With a mighty swing, Sandhills Community College middle hitter Keke Lawrence rocketed a ball just inside the back line for the final point of a 3-1 victory over Northampton CC and ninth place at the NJCAA Division III Volleyball Championships in Rochester, MN.
The Spartans from Bethlehem, PA served for six aces in winning Friday's opening set before the Lady Flyers rallied to grab a hard-fought 16-25, 25-22, 25-16 and 25-23 victory. Lawrence led her team with 12 kills. A strong all-around game by setter Lannah Huneycutt produced 24 assists, nine digs and eight kills. Libero L'Asia Jackson led the team in digs with 15.
After losing their opening match on Thursday to Finger Lakes CC, the Region 10 champion Lady Flyers wrapped up their first trip to the national tournament since 2010 by defeating the No. 6 and 9 seeds in the consolation bracket, completing the season with a record of 23-15.
"When you lose that first game you know that this is the best you can finish," Coach Alicia Riggan said when reached afterward by phone. "I'm very proud of the girls and the way they finished. We have a little history with Northampton and I'm glad that it turned out this way."
The last time the two teams met in 2017, Northampton was a 3-2 winner in the district tournament, denying the Lady Flyers a trip to the national tournament.
Trailing 13-11 in Friday's first set, the Lady Flyers were victimized by five aces as the Spartans pulled away to take the 1-0 lead. The problem continued when four more aces helped the Spartans build a 13-8 advantage in the second set.
The Lady Flyers fought back, drawing even at 14-14 on back-to-back kills by Lawrence and Huneycutt. The set was tied up five more times before kills by Lawrence, JaLasia Ray, Mackenzie Swett and Dajsha Fields helped build a 24-22 lead. Then a momentum-changing, no-look, over-the-shoulder dump into space by Huneycutt for a kill, tied the match at 1-1.
The Lady Flyers tightened up in the back, allowing no aces in the process of leading almost the entire way in the third set. But with an opportunity to close out the match, they found themselves trailing 20-15 late in the fourth.
A kill by Fields, and a service ace by Alyssa Maragelis, helped get the Flyers, going again. Moments later, a long return from the back by Olivia Barlowe dropped in for a kill, tying it up at 21-21. A net violation, and then a service error by the Spartans, led up to the dramatic match-deciding kill by Lawrence.
Other players, contributing to a Lady Flyers team that was making its first national tournament appearance since 2010 were Abby Quick, Madison Brower, Ny'Asia McKinnon, Alexis Hinson and Anna Ty Ivey.
Plans are for members of the team to remain in Rochester for Friday's semi-final matches, Saturday's championship match and the award presentations before for returning home on Sunday.
In their last four matches of the season, the Lady Flyers defeated teams ranked No.1 (Butler County CC), No. 6 (Harrison Area CC) and No. 14 (Northampton) in the final regular season national poll.
C. Bergmann