SWT Sports Writer
sports@southwesttimes.com
DUBLIN – The Lady Cougar volleyball team played extremely tough against River Ridge leading Cave Spring on Tuesday, but their efforts would fall just short, as they dropped a tough district contest, 3-0 (20-25, 9-25, 11-25).
Pulaski had to make some changes before the game because of an illness to one of their players. Sophomore Becky Pennington, who is a regular on the Cougar’s front line, has the Swine Flu and was replaced by Ashley Burleson. That left the back row for juniors Tamar Smith, Shammra Arnold, and Amanda Salinas.
“I think we made some good adjustments,” said Cougars coach Ashley Surber. “Ashley Burleson played well in Becky’s position. Tamar and Shammra also played well on the back row. They all stepped up in Becky’s absence.”
The Cougars (8-9, 1-6) played the opening game like they were the River Ridge’s number one team instead of Cave Spring. They would jump out to a 3-1 lead after an Amanda Salinas kill and the Knights committed two mistakes.
Everything would get knotted up at 4-4 though, as Cave Spring (14-3, 7-0) rallied back. That score marked a crucial spot in the game for the Cougars, as they scored five straight points. Marlena Morrison and Lauren Stanley each had a kill and Cave Spring committed three more errors.
That gap held tight in the game before the Knights put together several small rallies to tie the game up at 14-14. The score remained either tied or within a point until the 19-19 mark. Cave Spring would then score four consecutive points. Lauren Sledd and Corey Jacobson had one kill each and Morgan Shannon had two aces in the run. That small run propelled the Knights to a tough first game win, 25-20.
“They came out more ready in the first game today than they have in any of the other games we’ve played this year,” said Cougars coach Ashley Surber. “To go against Cave toe-to-toe in the first game, I was really proud of my kids. The first game was an all-around team effort. Everyone did their job as a team.”
Pulaski once again started out strong and held a 3-1 lead for the second straight game. Three Knight errors led to the lead. The Cougar lead would hold until the 4-2 mark. Cave Spring stormed out to the lead with ten straight points. Shannon had three kills, Sledd added two, Jacobson had a kill and an ace block, and Rebekah Henderson had two aces.
That huge run propelled the Knights into a big lead and caused the Cougars to get into a slump from which they would not recover. Pulaski would not score any of their nine points in the game on offense. All were from Cave Spring mistakes.
“We really didn’t pass the ball well in the second game,” Surber said. “If we can’t get a good pass to our setter, our hitters aren’t going to get a kill and get a side out for us to get the ball back.”
The third game saw the Cougar fall continue. Things did remain close however at the beginning, as Cave Spring only held a 3-2 lead. Things would start to expand though in favor of Cave Spring. The Knights 7-4 lead would expand to 11-4.
The Cougars would fight back in the game though at that point and scored three straight points to pull it back to within three at 11-7. Maddy Chitwood had a kill in the rally. That would be as close as the Cougars would get though.
Cave Spring would expand the lead to 16-9 and score four more points to take a commanding 20-9 lead from which they would not give up. The Knights took the final game and the district match.
Despite losing the match, Surber credits her team’s newfound attitude in their playing ability as a key factor to playing so well against one of the district’s best early in the match.
“For the most part, we were more positive in this game than have been in the past,” Surber said. “I think it helped with their demeanor on the court. It was like a different aura around them tonight, which to me each and every person wanted to play as a team. You hear a few comments from different players about how they felt like they should play at that top level. They can’t just let things get to them and just go, have fun, and play ball to the best of their ability.”
Marlena Morrison and Amanda Salinas led the Cougars with three kills each. Lauren Stanley added two, which Maddy Chitwood had a kill and an ace block.
Despite playing front row, Ashley Burleson had 20 digs and put herself within 32 digs of that elusive 1,000 dig mark. She also had a kill and an ace. She will look to break the record this Thursday at home against Hidden Valley (15-1, 6-1).
The Titans beat the Cougars in Roanoke earlier this season, 3-0 (12-25, 7-25, 6-25). Surber is hoping that her team will play as hard as they did against Cave Spring.
“If we continue to play like we did in that first game Thursday night, we should be able to hold our own with them,” Surber said. “We just have to play smart, play hard, find the holes, and are always communicating.”
JV – Cave Spring won 2-1, (20-25, 25-19, 15-8). Cougar JV is now 12-5 (2-5). Miranda Montgomery had five kills and three blocks (two ace blocks), while Alisha Romain added nine digs and three kills. Morgan Isom had 10 assists.
(10-20-09)
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