Pleasant Home battled back from an unsteady start, and came back to win an impressive 3-1 victory over Andalusia in the varsity volleyball game on Wednesday, Sept. 21.
The Lady Eagles, ranked fourth in the state, improved to 12-5 for the season with a 25-21 25, 11, 23-25, 25-19 victory. It was a loss for the Lady Bulldogs fell to 7-13 overall.
“It’s difficult to fall and then have to fight to get out, especially at this point. I think that’s the grit and determination on the part of our girls to be back tomorrow. We were able to control the first two sets when we found our groove and flow. We let loose a in the third set due to mistakes that were not forced and a mental breakdown. We committed service errors in the fourth, when we shouldn’t have been. We came together after a timeout and came up with a solution. This is a huge win for us, being in this setting and winning the win against that. I’m very happy for my girls,” PHS Head Coach Tony Wilson said.
SET ONE
Two aces by Eliana Forry as well as a kill from Molly Capps helped Andalusia open an advantage of 7-0 in the opening set. Addi Hughes hit four aces in the second set as Pleasant Home responded and pulled closer to 7-6. A mistake in the attack led to the visitors taking the lead for the first time at 10-9, however back-to-back killings Taya Newton leveled the match at 11-11. Meredith Wilson used two aces to lead 18-15 however, Cape Merrell brought the Lady Bulldogs level at 19-19, thanks to the block. Haley Ward delivered a kill for a 23-20 advantage and followed it up with an ace when her team’s Lady Eagles took a 1-0 advantage.
SET TWO
The Lady Eagles shot out to an early lead of 4-1 in the second frame, but Mallory McGlamory had an ace and gave the Lady Bulldogs a 5-4 advantage. After trailing by two, Kamari Gay had a block that reduced the deficit of the hosts to 8-7. A kill from Hughes and an ace by Wilson increased the advantage to 14-9. From there, Pleasant Home took control and scored 11 of the 13 final points. Hughes had a kill and an ace. Bri Hall was able to block the ball for an 18-10 advantage. Ward added two kills in the stretch, putting Andalusia in an early two-point lead.
SET THREE
When the sweep began to approach, Wilson started the third set by aces in succession. Merrell was able to score two kills, while Capps also scored an ace to take an advantage of 6-3. Andalusia increased their lead from 10-8 to 11-8 however, Ivy Youngblood scored two aces and ended a 5-0 streak to swing momentum the opposite way. Following Pleasant Home took a 16-12 advantage, Merrell knocked two more kills before cutting the gap down to 16-14. After two tie-breakers, Gay hit a big kill and Newton hit an ace to take an advantage of 21-19. Merrell set the score at 23-20 after a kill, but Wilson made it 23-23, scoring two aces. Wilson and the Lady Eagles were unable to make it sweepable when Forry scored an ace which led to that the Lady Bulldogs cut the match score to 2-1.
SET FOUR
Newton made a huge kill to give the Lady Eagles a 5-1 advantage at the end of set 4. Ward played well to keep his Lady Eagles close at 6-5 after an ace from Katie Kennedy and kill by Capps led to 12-9. Newton delivered another smash and the score increased to 19-13, putting players of the Lady Bulldogs on the brink of forcing a fifth game. Andalusia was unable to draw even following Pleasant Home called timeout and came back to score an 12-0 win to close the match. Wilson and Hall each scored two kills. Three aces scored by Ward in the 12 final points sealed the game.
Both teams will be back in the action in next week’s game. Andalusia is scheduled to play T.R. Miller the following Monday September. 25, and Pleasant Home hosts Brantley in a regional match on Tuesday on Sept. 26.
The article Lady Eagles overcome slow start to win a volleyball match at Andalusia was first published at The Andalusia Star-News.
