It didn’t come easy, but in the end, the Nation Ford volleyball team got the revenge they were looking for in sweeping Fort Mill Thursday night.
Fort Mill had beaten the Falcons earlier in the season for the first time in five years, but the season sweep by the Jackets was avoided by Nation Ford as they won 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-19) to take sole possession of first place in Region 3-5A. The Falcons are now 18-8 overall and 4-1 in the region play.
“We played in a tournament this past weekend and we worked out some kinks,” said Nation Ford head coach Craig Brown. “We feel like we have turned the corner. We played to our potential tonight.”
Nation Ford led nearly the entire match as they kept Fort Mill on their toes and were strong at the net when returning the ball.
Playing on their home court, the Falcons went up 7-1 in the first set getting off to a hot start against the Jackets leading them to take a time out. Coming out of the time out, Nation Ford continued their hot start, while Fort Mill kept the pressure on and stayed within striking distance. However, playing at home and the hot start was too much for Nation Ford to lose sight of as they took the opening set 25-15 in front of a vocal crowd for both teams.
Nation Ford kept the energy going their way to open the second set going up 5-2, but a resilient Jackets team was able to stay in the fight and pulled within one on two occasions forcing the Falcons into a time out to regroup up just 11-10.
After the time out, the Falcons rattled off three straight points to give themselves some breathing room, but the Jackets kept the heat on for the rest of the set and pulled within three points again at 17-14. Despite the pressure, Nation Ford held on to a 25-19 win.
The third set was the most competitive of the three, as the Falcons again started hot and went up 3-0, but Fort Mill came back to tie the set at 5-5. The Jackets would then grab their first lead on the next serve, but wouldn’t be able to hold it as the teams battled back and forth tying on two more occasions. Nation Ford squeezed ahead at 12-10 and was able to maintain the lead for the rest of the set to get another 25-19 set and match win.
Fort Mill is now tied for second in the region at 3-2 with Clover, but are 15-5 overall. Jackets head coach Jim Seidel said he didn’t see a lot of difference between the two teams despite the loss.
“They (Nation Ford) fought hard and wasn’t going to lose at home,” he said. “We just have to show up and pass better. We will see them again.”
Nation Ford now hits the road next week to take on Boiling Springs, while Fort Mill host Clover, who beat them earlier in region play.
Volleyball
In other volleyball action, Catawba Ridge swept Lancaster 3-0 (25-9, 25-1, 25-14) to clinch the Region 3-4A title and improve to 15-7 overall on the season. The Copperheads are now 7-0 in region play and still have a match against Indian Land next week to see if they can have a perfect region season.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
