Lady Raiders roll over Pound in three games

Cody Dalton
Sports Writer

Norton – The J.I. Burton Raiders swept the Pound Wildcats, 25-16, 25-14, 25-16, Tuesday night in a Lonesome Pine District contest at Wilson Gymnasium.

The Raiders (6-10, 4-2) took an early 6-1 advantage to start the first game, before Pound (5-11, 0-5) closed the gap to 6-3.

Burton would go on yet another run of 6 straight to gain the lead, 12-3. The closest that Pound got would be was 3 and the Raiders took the first game.

The two teams would start the beginning of the second game deadlocked. Burton gained the early 8-3 advantage after kills by Ruth Oviatt and Brittni Wilson. Oviatt led the Raiders with 10 kills, while Wilson had 11 assists.

After four Burton mistakes midway through the second game, the Wildcats climbed to within two points at 12-10.

The Raiders had in answer, in the form of an 11-0 run, to give them a 23-10 lead. Burton eventually took the game, 25-14, to give them a 2-0 lead in the match.

“The first two games it was hard to tell who was better,” said Burton coach Jon Bright. “Both teams played really flat. Luckily, we made less mistakes than Pound did in the first two games.”

Though they were down two games, the Wildcats came into the third determined to get on the board. Pound would start the third game on a 6-1 run.

With the score 16-8, Burton found a spark in the form of Oviatt and senior Jessi Adams. The two would combine for four kills, as the Raiders ended the third game on an amazing 17-0 run. Burton took the third game and the match.

Burton coach Jon Bright evaluated his team’s performance after the game.

“Early on, we didn’t play really bad, but we were just playing flat,” Bright said. “We built a big lead, but I felt that we let up. We had an opportunity to make a statement and just played flat. A win is a win and will take.”

Pound coach Kristen Phillips also had an assessment of her team’s play.

“This is the worst we have played all year. Thursday against Powell Valley was the best we had played. I don’t know how we can come in here and play like this after playing so well against Powell Valley. I am so disappointed in our play.”

The 17-0 run was impressive to not only the fans of Burton, but Bright was also impressed with run his team made.

“This is the second longest run since I’ve been coaching,” Bright said. “It really was nice. We were down and it came at a good point in time. What can you say? We will take it whatever we can get.”

“We had the lead and they wanted it,” Phillips said. “We had every opportunity. Even in the first and second game, we beat ourselves”

Bright believed that his team’s ability to get points in large amounts was the difference maker in the win.

“We went on some pretty big runs,” Bright said. “I think that was the difference. Third game, we were super flat and got behind. Then we got on a run and were playing really well. We were happy we won it in three.”