The Catawba Ridge Copperheads volleyball season came to an abrupt end at the hands of the South Aiken Thoroughbreds in four sets Monday at The Arena.
The match was the first one for Catawba Ridge since Oct. 15 after having a first-round bye in the playoffs. The last time the Copperheads played was in a tournament at Cardinal Newman where they went 2-3 and ironically one of those losses was to South Aiken.
The 3-1 (24-26, 10-25, 25-20, 13-25) loss Monday in the second round of the playoffs ended the Catawba Ridge season at 17-13-1 overall. Head coach Alicia Lisee felt like the time off and not having a first-round match hurt her team.
“That dead period affected us a little bit,” she said. “It is hard to keep focus and create intense situations like in matches. I am really proud of the girls. This is a young team. There is a lot of positives to take forward.”
In the opening set, both teams battled back and forth, but from the opening serve, Catawba Ridge had their hands full. South Aiken quickly went up 12-7, before a Copperheads time out. After the time out, South Aiken held control and extended their lead to 17-13, before a Catawba Ridge rally which forced the Thoroughbreds to take a time out. The two teams tied it up at 23-23, before South Aiken pulled ahead to take the first set.
The second set was just as telling for South Aiken as they again went up early 11-5 on Catawba Ridge and controlled the set as the Copperheads never found their rhythm.
Catawba Ridge regrouped some in the third set and kept pace with South Aiken enough to make a battle out of things. The Copperheads jumped out to an early lead and despite the Thoroughbreds tying the match several times, Catawba Ridge never lost control of the set, like they did the previous two.
In the fourth set, the momentum swung greatly back to South Aiken as they went up early and pulled away never looking back. South Aiken grabbed a 9-4 lead and extended it to 15-8 before a Catawba Ridge timeout. The Thoroughbreds seemed to get stronger after the time out seeing the finish in sight and would outscore the Copperheads 10-5 in the remaining 15 points.
Golf
In the first round of the 4A state girls golf championship at the Golf Club at Hilton Head Lakes in Hardeeville, Catawba Ridge sits in seventh place 33 shots back from leader Pickens. The Copperheads shot a 364 as a team as Pickens leads with a 331. Leading the Copperheads was Eileen Zeoli with an 84. She was followed by an 87 from Katherine Mann and a 92 from Reagan Lynch. EllaRose Hill finished the scoring for Catawba Ridge with a 101. The second and final 18-hole round is Tuesday.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
