With less than a handful of regular season matches remain, Catawba Ridge and Nation Ford boys’ volleyball teams came into their match with a lot riding on the results.
Nation Ford won 3-2 (17-25, 27-25, 25-23, 17-25, 15-12) putting them solidly in second place in Region 3-4A. Nation Ford is now 17-12 overall and 7-1 in the region behind Indian Land.
“The day off from school is never our friend,” said Nation Ford head coach Amanda Scott. “It took them the whole first set to find a rhythm. We talked at practice about energy. The first set they didn’t bring any energy. Every team in our region has gotten better. It is such a competitive region.”
The first meeting of the season between the two teams saw the Falcons’ win in straight sets 3-0. Nation Ford started the fifth set going up 4-0. Catawba Ridge kept it close but struggled to keep the momentum they had in the fourth set which allowed them to tie the match.
“That fifth set showed a lot of what we did when they took sets from us,” said Catawba Ridge head coach Ross Lisee. “It was self-inflicted damage. We can’t have that against good teams.”
Catawba Ridge is now 16-9 overall on the season and 5-4 in the region.
The host Copperheads opened the first set going up 3-0. Nation Ford came back early to tie it at four. The rally was short lived as Catawba Ridge started to pull away and take control of the first set going up 12-6 before the Falcons’ timeout.
Nation Ford lacked energy in the opening set while the Copperheads were the exact opposite and went up 20-13. Service errors hurt the Falcons, as Catawba Ridge came up strong at the net with blocks and returns.
The Falcons played better out of its second timeout of the set, but was unable to keep any momentum going its direction as the Copperheads took the first set.
Catawba Ridge again started the second set going up 3-0. The Copperheads maintained control through the early portion of the second set.
The Falcons rallied to pull within two at 10-8, but Catawba Ridge kept the small two point advantage until Nation Ford tied the set at 12.
After tying the set, the Falcons were able to take a small advantage and the set started to go back and forth with both teams pulling ahead slightly before being tied at 22. Nation Ford tied the match with a 27-25 win in the second set.
The third set started just as close as the second one finished with the Falcons maintaining the advantage. Catawba Ridge was able to keep up and tied the set early on. The Copperheads stayed within a point or two, if not tying the set through much of the set. However, neither team was able to make a run.
Nation Ford managed to hold the two-point lead for much of the third set. Catawba Ridge scored three consecutive points to tie the set at 21 leading to a Falcons’ timeout. Out of the break, it was Nation Ford’s turn to put together a run forcing set point and a Copperheads timeout.
The Falcons entered the fourth set with a 2-1 lead. Nation Ford stayed strong going up 7-4 keeping the Copperheads off balance as their outside hitters continuously put balls out of range for Catawba Ridge.
The Falcons started to pull away as their confidence grew taking a 12-7 lead.
Mental mistakes by Nation Ford allowed the Copperheads to crawl back into the set and pull within one at 16-15 before a Falcons’ timeout.
The timeout didn’t help as Catawba Ridge kept the momentum and went up 22-17 before closing out the set to tie the match at two.
Oct. 6 Roundup
The Nation Ford girls’ volleyball team beat Catawba Ridge 3-0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-20) to improve to 24-4 on the season and 11-0 in Region 3-4A. Catawba Ridge dropped to 17-13 overall and 7-4 in the region.
The Fort Mill girls’ volleyball team beat Rock Hill 3-1 (25-22, 18-25, 25-21, 25-19) to improve to 16-6 overall and 6-2 in Region 2-5A.
The Fort Mill boys’ volleyball team beat Rock Hill 3-1 (25-21, 25-22, 21-25, 25-22) to improve to 12-12 overall on the season and 4-4 in Region 2-5A.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
