Coach Riggan Records Career Win No. 300 in Exciting Victory Over Lenoir
Shortly after a win at the net by Sandhills Community College middle hitter Cassidy Jewett brought Tuesday's evening's five-set thriller against Lenior CC to a close, Coach Alicia Riggan instructed her players to cross the floor and thank the home crowd.
Instead the assistant coaches and players gathered around Athletic Director Mike Apple who was already on the court to present Riggan with a plaque commemorating her 300th victory as the Coach of the Lady Flyers.
"Little did I know," she said afterward. "I thought I was still a couple of wins away."
The Lady Flyers improved to 5-0 with the 25-15, 28-30, 25-10, 22-25 and 15-7 victory while the Division II Lancers dropped to 2-1. In her 16th season as the head coach, Riggan takes a record of 300-133 into Wednesday's 6:30 p.m. match in Thomasville against another D II squad, Davidson-Davie CC.
After that, the Lady Flyers hit the road for a 600 mile journey to Perrysburg, Ohio to compete in a total of four matches on Friday and Saturday at the Owens Community College Invitational.
The Lady Flyers were sharp from the start on Tuesday, with sophomores Jewett, Caroline Bradford and Jenna Luquer, and freshman Kristin Dodds, leading the way in the hitting department. But a marathon second set was tied a dozen times before the visitors evened the match at 1-1.
Dodd was credited with the last two kills as the Flyers took the third set. They led 22-17 in the fourth before the Lancers ran off eight points in a row to force the 15-point tiebreaker. Jewett, who led the Flyers in kills with 13, was credited with the final two as the home team prevailed 15-7 to close out the match.
"We were ready to go," Jewett said. "There were some kinks tonight, but we're going to work those out in practice. We play a game tomorrow and that's a big game for us as well. We want to get better."
Also in double figures in kills were Bradford with 12 and Dodds with 11. Dodds was also credited with four block solos. Freshman Mariana Clayton and sophomore Zoey Hall were credited with 29 and 14 assists, respectively.
The leaders in digs in an all-around team effort were Bradford, 18, Nikki Lambert 17, Lainey Mullins 15 and Clayton 14. Clayton and Lambert were each credited with four service aces.
Riggan acknowledged the former players and current and former assistant coaches that have contributed to the victory total.
"We had a battle tonight," she said. "David (Lancer's Coach Barnes) is a great coach and I knew his players would be intelligent and super scrappy. It was exciting to see us bounce back and take the fifth set."
Mullins and Jewett are two of the team's eight sophomores that are mixing in well with nine freshmen. According to Mullins, Riggan sets high standards for her players.
"She has very high expectations for all of us," Mullins said. "She expects us to meet them and we expect to meet them ourselves to make us a better team. She's hard on us, but just wants the best for us."
Of the milestone victory total her coach has achieved, Jewett said: "We really wanted this win for her. We love her, we're grateful for her. I don't think there is another coach like her."
C. Bergmann