One team was going to be where they wanted, while the other was going to be in a hole.
The Catawba Ridge and Clover boys’ volleyball teams both sat tied for the lead in Region 3-5A coming into their match against each other on Tuesday, Sept. 23. Both teams entered the match at 5-0 in region play.
As expected, the two teams played each other close to start and traded points back and forth, but it was Catawba Ridge that got the 3-1 win (25-22, 25-20, 19-25, 25-19) to improve to 6-0 in the region.
“I thought it would be a battle,” said Catawba Ridge boys’ head coach Ross Lisee. “We knew they would step up. Clover always has good teams.”
The Copperheads took a small 10-8 lead in the first set. Clover would quickly turn that around and tied it again.
However, strong net play allowed Catawba Ridge to take a 15-12 lead. That small gap widened as the Copperheads went up 21-14 before a Clover timeout. Unforced errors by Clover aided Catawba Ridge in the set Despite the errors, the Copperheads allowed Clover to work their way back into the set after being up 24-19.
Despite that, Catawba Ridge was able to hold off the rally and take the first set.
The second set started like the first, yet again the Copperheads pulled ahead slightly at 7-5. Clover stayed close within two or three points of Catawba Ridge. Halfway through the set, the Blue Eagles jumped ahead at 13-11 to force the Copperheads into a timeout.
Catawba Ridge came back to tie the set at 16, as the two kept the set close. The Copperheads went up 22-20 before Clover called timeout to regroup after four consecutive Catawba Ridge points. After six consecutive points by the Copperheads, Clover took another timeout, but the Copperheads had the set in the bag and went up 2-0.
After going down 2-0, Clover regrouped and started the third set strong. The Blue Eagles went up 9-4 after the strong start leading to a Copperheads timeout.
Clover kept the momentum in their favor after the timeout, as Catawba Ridge was forced to play catch-up. The Blue Eagles corrected previous errors and were able to get kills to keep things in their favor.
Catawba Ridge rallied some towards the end of the third set, but wasn’t able to get the sweep as Clover won.
Despite dropping the would be decisive third set, the Copperheads shook off the loss and quickly started the fourth set 10-5 through the first 15 points.
Catawba Ridge was the aggressor in the fourth set and pushed their lead to 18-10 at one point. Clover rattled off three of four points before a timeout. The Blue Eagles played better out of the timeout, but the deficit was too much for them to overcome as Catawba Ridge took the win in four sets.
“We lost focus in the third set,” Lisee said. “When you lose focus, you let teams get a run on you.”
The win improved Catawba Ridge to 17-4-2 overall. Catawba Ridge will next host Fort Mill on Thursday, Sept. 25.
Sept. 23 Roundup
The Fort Mill girls’ tennis team beat Nation Ford 4-2 to improve to 7-0 on the season. Winning for Fort Mill was Abhi Nallareddy 6-2, 6-1; Molly Goodson 6-0, 6-1; Avalon Starnes 6-2, 6-3; and Ellie Gorbet and Sofia Burger 7-6, 6-1 in doubles. Winning for Nation Ford was Eva Mabey 6-1, 6-1 and Piper Land 7-5, 6-0.
The Catawba Ridge girls’ tennis team improved to 3-3 on the season with a 4-2 win over Clover. Winning for the Copperheads was Abby Russell 6-1, 6-1; Kaitlyn Wood 7-6, 4,6, 10-5; Jane Rohrmeier 6-3, 6-3 and in doubles Elaina Beilstein and Lucy Baines 6-3, 6-4.
The Nation Ford girls’ golf team split with Northwestern and Clover. Nation Ford beat Clover 196-198 and fell to Northwestern, who shot a 176. Nation Ford is now 4-7 on the season.
The Nation Ford girls’ volleyball team beat Fort Mill 3-0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-17) to improve to 6-0 in Region 3-5A and 16-4 overall. Fort Mill dropped to 4-5 overall and 2-4 in the region.
The Nation Ford boys’ volleyball team beat Fort Mill 3-2 to improve to 8-6 overall and 3-3 in Region 3-5A. The Fort Mill boys dropped to 6-10 overall and 2-4 in the region.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
