Cody Dalton
Sports Writer
Appalachia – The Appalachia Lady Bulldogs beat the Clintwood Green Wave, 25-23, 13-25, 25-22, 14-25, 16-14, in a thrilling Lone Pine District contest on Thursday.
“It was a very good win,” said Appalachia coach Crystal Mosier. “It was a nail-biter and anyone in here could tell you that. Even down to the last couple of points, you didn’t know who was going to win it. It’s definitely a big win and good for us.”
Appalachia (6-6, 2-3) would start the game on a 7-1 run, before the Green Wave would score again. The Bulldogs were led on the run by Lauren Howard, who had two of the Bulldogs first seven points. She led the Bulldogs with 12 kills, 12 assists, and 20 digs.
After being down 10-5 midway through the first game, Clintwood (8-6, 0-4) would rally by winning six of the next seven points scored and tie the game at 11-11. The game would remain tight all the way to the end.
Towards the end of the first, the score would be 23-22, in favor of the Bulldogs. Brittany Craft stepped in for the Bulldogs with two key kills and helped give Appalachia game 1. Craft has 8 kills, 6 assists, and 4 digs.
The Green Wave came out aggressive again to start the second game, leading 10-3 at one point after a Courtney Mullins kill. Mullins would lead the Green Wave with 10 kills.
After being down, Craft once again stepped it up for the Bulldogs. Her two blocks and one kill helped Appalachia climb within four, 11-7, but that was as far as they would get. Clintwood took the second game.
The third game saw Appalachia get off to a quick 4-0 start, only to have it erased by Clintwood. The two teams would stay close, with the largest deficit being five points.
Clintwood held a 21-16 lead towards the end of game three and it looked as if they would take the game. Appalachia had different ideas and rallied to win five straight points and tie the game at 21-21. The two would tie at 22-22, before the Bulldogs won the next.
Howard would send a powerful spike from the middle of the court to give Appalachia a 24-22 edge before finally taking the game.
Clintwood’s pursuit to stay in the match would start out well in the fourth, with a 5-0 lead to open up the game. With the score 12-6 in favor of the Green Wave, Clintwood would go on another furious run of ten straight and take a 22-6 advantage.
The Green Wave eventually took the game, 25-14. This dramatic contest would have to go to a fifth and deciding game.
Appalachia looked great early on, with a 6-2 lead, but in typical fashion, Clintwood closed the gap. The two teams remained tied throughout the final stanza, until 14-14. Clintwood hit the ball out of bounds and Craft served up an ace to give the Bulldogs the victory.
“I think it was a very tough game,” Mosier said. “Coming into the game, I knew both teams knew it was going to go one way or the other. Clintwood got up on us in the second game and played together well. They didn’t give up and played as a team very well. It ultimately came down to that last game.”
“I think both teams were about equal,” said Clintwood coach Vicki Blevins. “Both teams had about the same amount of errors, as well as good and bad plays.”
Mosier believes that a total team unity, despite an ailment, helped the Bulldogs pull out an extremely difficult victory.
“I think we came together as a team tonight,” Mosier said. “There were several times when we were down and came back up. We had one player who was sick, but they came together to fill that spot. That is a big thing for us is to work together and getting on top.”
“This is a hard loss,” Blevins said. “This is the second hardest loss we have had, other than Powell Valley, which we lost the same way as this one.”
Despite the loss, coach Blevins saw some great positives in her teams playing ability in the game against Appalachia.
“I think we were our able to talk to one another,” Blevins said. “Our serve was good and that helped us more than anything. Our hitters were down a little bit.”
Both teams will be on the road for their next games Tuesday, as Clintwood plays at J.J. Kelly, while Appalachia travels to face Powell Valley.
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