After a first-round bye, the Catawba Ridge Copperheads opened the 5A Division II playoffs with a sweep of the Greenville Red Raiders 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-20).
The match was close from the first serve in the opening set, but the Copperheads strength showed through as the sets wore on. It had been two weeks since Catawba Ridge had played, but showed no signs of rust. The win improved the Copperheads to 15-14 overall on the season.
“I thought it would be one-sided towards us,” said Catawba Ridge head coach Alicia Lisee. “As soon as the first two shots were kills, I knew we were focused.”
Catawba Ridge scored the first two points, but then it was back and forth. Neither team was able to get an advantage on the other one by more than a couple points as the set seesawed between the two teams.
That was until tied at 10, the Copperheads rattled off five straight points to go up 15-10.
Catawba Ridge found a rhythm and scored two of the next three points before a Greenville timeout. The Copperheads were strong at the net getting blocks and turning those into points. After the timeout, Catawba Ridge continued to pull away to take the opening set.
The Copperheads started well in the second set, but didn’t pull away initially. Catawba Ridge was able to get timely kills, but offensively wasn’t able to make a run.
Catawba Ridge finally saw a crack in the second set by Greenville and took an 19-15 lead forcing the Red Raiders into a timeout.
The Copperheads opened the third set 3-0, but this time was able to stay ahead of Greenville. Like the previous sets, Catawba Ridge opened the gap and started widening the score.
The Copperheads went up 16-12 leading to another Greenville timeout. Catawba Ridge continued to get stronger out of the timeout and pulled away even more taking the third set and match.
Sydney Mayak got her 1,000-career assist during the match for Catawba Ridge.
Catawba Ridge will now travel to face No. 1 seed Nation Ford on Thursday, Nov. 7, as they won 3-1 (25-11, 26-28, 25-23, 25-14) over TL Hanna on Tuesday as well.
Nov. 5 Roundup
The Nation Ford girls’ tennis team fell in the second round of the 5A Division II playoffs on the road losing 5-1 to Greenville High School. Eva Mabry got the lone win for the Falcons at No. 4 singles 6-4, 6-2. Nation Ford finished the season at 11-3 overall.
The Catawba Ridge girls’ tennis team had their match at Riverside rained out and rescheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 6. Fort Mill’s girls’ tennis home match was also rained out and rescheduled for tomorrow.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
