CEDAR BLUFF – One thing Sand Rock volleyball coach Lisa Bates loves about her team this season is how aggressive they are.
On Tuesday night in a tri-match with Faith Christian at Cedar Bluff, Sand Rock’s aggressiveness led to early set leads, which in turn led to a sweep of both matches. The Lady Wildcats defeated Faith Christian 25-11, 25-10, then won the nightcap against Cedar Bluff 25-10, 25-17 to improve to 5-0 on the season.
“That’s what I love about this team. They are aggressive-minded,” Bates said. “They have good chemistry. It’s not just one person swinging. We move it around. We have lots of options hitting-wise. We knew that this summer, and that’s what we got so excited about. We’ve stayed aggressive-minded the whole time. It didn’t look like a little run bothered us much at all. I’m proud of them. They’re fun to watch. They’re going to be fun as long as we keep everybody healthy and everybody’s mind right. They work well together.”
Seemingly in the blink of an eye, Sand Rock jumped out to 6-0 and 5-0 early set leads against Faith Christian. It was the same against Cedar Bluff. Sand Rock jumped out 4-0 in the first set and 3-0 in the second to set the tone.
Cedar Bluff coach Lyndsey Barker Mullins said he team was “shell-shocked” against Sand Rock.
“We have kids who have never played before or that caliber of a team before,” she said. “It happened so fast we just couldn’t catch up. They’re a good ball team.
“They have good hitters. All of their hitters can hit the ball. They hit the ball well, and that’s not something we’ve seen yet. I’ve been preaching to the girls defense, defense, defense, and this was a great opportunity to step in and play defense.”
But even when Cedar Bluff (8-2) defended well, the Lady Wildcats were just too strong for the Lady Tigers to handle.
Lanie Henderson led Sand Rock with 16 kills and four blocks for the night. McKenna Ballenger added 40 assists and three aces. Katelyn St. Clair contributed eight kills, six aces and 13 digs. Jacey Stephens contributed eight kills and a pair of blocks. Chloe Stephens collected seven kills and two blocks. Caley Garrett posted 18 digs.
Cedar Bluff defeated Faith Christian 25-17, 25-13 in the first varsity match of the day.
Jordyn Walker led the Lady Tigers in that match with seven kills, three aces and two digs. Maggie Clowdis contributed six kills and four aces. Haley Allen added 13 assists and three kills. Mattie Payne posted two digs and a kill. Emma Haney had two kills. Natalie Baty finished with a dig and an ace.
Against Sand Rock, Clowdis collected three digs, two kills and an assist. Walker had two kills and a dig. Payne contributed five digs and a kill. Allen accumulated two digs, two assists and a kill. Haney came away with a pair of kills. Lacie Roer finished with a kill.
“We’re going to have these bumps in the road, but what matters is what we do tomorrow,” Mullins said. “What we do the rest of the season is what ultimately matters in the grand scheme of things.”
Cedar Bluff travels to Spring Garden on Thursday at 5 p.m. Sand Rock hosts Sardis and Pleasant Valley on Thursday beginning at 4 p.m.
