Vikings start off slow, but rally at end to beat Raiders

Cody Dalton
Sports Writer

Norton – The Powell Valley Vikings started off sluggish in their first few games Thursday, but rallied to win the final two games against J.I. Burton and earn a Lonesome Pine District win 25-27, 27-25, 17-25, 25-16, 15-11 at Wilson Gymnasium.

The Vikings (6-3, 3-1) were led by Tasha Trent, who had 13 kills, 4 blocks, and 4 aces. Brette Harding also had 11 kills for Powell Valley.

“We gritted our teeth and hung in there and we were able to come out on top,” said Vikings coach Kim Moore. “Our weaknesses were passing and our ability to play as a team tonight. We were individuals out there.”

In the first game, Burton (4-7, 3-1) quickly jumped out to an 8-0 lead before Powell Valley’s first score. Things tightened up in the middle of the first game though, as Powell Valley rallied to score 5 straight points, which gave the Vikings a 14-13 lead.

Burton would gain some much needed separation from Powell Valley, but the two teams tied again at 24-24. It looked as if the Vikings would win the set after taking a 25-24 lead, but Burton rallied.

The Raiders quickly tied and then took a one point advantage over Powell Valley before April Hamilton had a crucial kill to give the Raiders the first set. Hamilton had 11 kills and 11 service points for the Raiders, while Hannah Stewart had 17 service points and 23 assists.

The Raiders continued their trend of great starts with a 9-1 lead in the early stages of game two. Powell Valley once again rallied to bring the game to 13-16. The Vikings then won 4 of the next 5 points to tie Burton at 17-17. Powell Valley took their first lead of the second game with Brette Harding kill to make it 18-17.

Towards the end of the second game, Powell Valley maintained a 25-22 lead before three straight Viking mistakes led to a 25-25 tie. However, Powell Valley redeemed themselves, as they won the next two points and the second game.

“I thought the first three games we did an excellent job of getting ahead and putting pressure on them,” said Burton coach Jon Bright. “It was a heartbreaker losing that second game. If it hadn’t been for the second game, we might have come out of here with a win in three games and without a loss.”

Different from the first two games, the third game was hotly contested throughout the first couple of points. The two teams were tied at 2-2 before a Burton run gave them an 8-2 lead. The Vikings had the same idea, going on an 8-2 run to tie at 10 all.

Towards the end of the third, Burton won 8 of the next 9 points and stretched their lead to 18-11. The Raiders ended up taking the game, 25-17, after a Chelsea Forney block at the net.

Game four featured another hot start, but this time is was by Powell Valley. The Vikings started out the game with 7-1 and at one point had a 13-2 lead in the game. The closest the Raiders got was at 22-16, but the Vikings won the final three points to give them the set, 25-16.

“Coming out of the huddle after the fourth game, I told my team that we’ve worked hard all summer and this whole year,” Moore said. “It is just too early to give up a win here.”

The fifth and final game was a battle between the two teams as they were tied throughout. After a 10-10 tie, the Vikings went on a four point run that ended only because of a missed serve. The Vikings rebounded and stopped the Raiders one final time to preserve their victory.

“There is no doubt that we want to win,” Moore said. “Right now, it is just figuring out how to win. We have the talent on this team, but we just need to figure out who needs to go where and when and who is on and who is off.”

“Game four, I thought we kind of lost the momentum,” Bright said. “We came out real flat and I don’t know why. We got behind early. We fought back and made it somewhat competitive, but lost the game. Then I thought we might have had it back in the fifth game, but then the wheels came off. We quit attacking. That was the difference in the game.”

Despite such a tough loss, Bright feels his team will bounce back and play well in the coming games.

“It is tough because that is our first district loss,” Bright said. “We’ll just work on the things that need to and hopefully we’ll get better.”

Coach Moore also feels that her team still has improvements to make as well, in order to get better.

“We have to start out better,” Moore said. “We started out and dug ourselves a hole. We need to be consistent and do the right things out there. We need to be smarter. Burton is a great team and I feel like they out hustled us. Somebody was on our side tonight.”