In their first match up against each other this season, the Nation Ford Falcons swept Fort Mill in three sets to remain undefeated in Region 3-5A play.
Not only are the Falcons undefeated in region play, they have yet to drop a set and improved to 5-0 in the region and 16-9 overall. Against Fort Mill Tuesday, Nation Ford got stronger as the match went on winning 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-8).
“We play with a purpose,” said Nation Ford head coach Craig Brown. “We were hitting on all cylinders.”
Nation Ford opened the first set taking a strong 7-3 lead. The Falcons forced Fort Mill into a time out leading 12-8 and then surged ahead 17-8 after the break. However, Fort Mill did rally and pulled within four at one point 22-18 after going on a 6-2 run in the opening set. The Falcons were able to regroup and never lost the lead winning by four.
In the second set, Fort Mill was just as competitive and started strong going up 4-2. Nation Ford fought back and tied things up at 6-6, before pulling ahead for good. Fort Mill stayed within several points of the Falcons and took a time out trailing 15-12. Nation Ford started pulling away as they went on a 7-2 run to go up 22-15 before closing the set out.
Fort Mill opened the third set going up 1-0, but then the Falcons took control and never looked back. Nation Ford went up 7-4 and then rattled off eight of the next nine points to go up 15-5. During the third set, Nation Ford senior Cecilia Fenbert recorded her 2,000th career assist for the Falcons before they closed out the match for the win.
The loss drops Fort Mill to 12-7 overall and 3-2 in region play. Fort Mill will take on Catawba Ridge at home Wednesday, Sept. 28 and look to regroup.
“We struggled to bounce back from our mistakes,” said Fort Mill head coach Makala McCrorey. “We had people playing in new positions and we were trying to see what works.”
The Falcons were scheduled to start the second half of their region schedule Thursday against Clover, but that match has been moved to Monday, Oct. 10. They next play at Blythewood Tuesday, Oct. 4 to open the second half of their region schedule.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
