New gym, new floor, new season, same result.
The Fort Mill girls’ volleyball team opened their playoff season in a brand new state of the art gym at Fort Mill High School with a convincing first-round sweep of the Boiling Springs Bulldogs in the 5A state playoffs.
Fort Mill won 3-0 (25-18, 31-29, 25-23) and will now travel to Mauldin for a second-round match on Monday, Oct. 26. The sweep was a little surprising for Fort Mill head volleyball coach Erin Kayton, who had to go to five sets on both occasions while facing Region 2 opponent Boiling Springs during the regular season. Fort Mill improved to 19-6 overall on the season with the win.
“The difference was we made less mistakes and were working as a team,” Kayton said. “We worked well in pressure situations instead of crumbling.”
With the new gym, Fort Mill didn’t have much time to get used to the new floor.
“We practiced twice on the floor,” Keyton said. “We are a little familiar with it, but it is still new territory. It is new to everyone. It is new to us, it is new to them, but practicing in here twice helped.”
The Jackets came out energetic and quickly started 9-4 in the first set. Fort Mill was strong at the net gathering kills and catching the Bulldogs off guard with tips.
Boiling Springs stayed committed to their game plan and was able to pull within three at 20-17. After a Jackets timeout, Fort Mill was able to again stretch their lead to take the opening set 25-18.
Fort Mill scored first to open the second set, but the Bulldogs remained strong and grabbed an early advantage at 9-6. Boiling Springs kept that advantage extending its lead to 13-7 before a Fort Mill timeout.
The Jackets played better out of the timeout but couldn’t close the gap as much as Boiling Springs held on to the lead.
Fort Mill scored seven of the next 10 points to tie the set at 18 before Boiling Springs called a timeout. The two teams remained close from that point as the Bulldogs would find holes in the Jackets’ defense to win points. Despite the tips that scored the Bulldogs points, Fort Mill outplayed them as the set was extended with a win 31-29 to go up 2-0.
Carrying the momentum from the second set, the Jackets opened the third set going up 6-3. The Bulldogs again jumped ahead going up 11-8. Fort Mill struggled this time to keep pace as they went down 17-11 before trying to regroup with a timeout.
The Jackets started a rally and pulled within three at 19-16. They kept the momentum going and went up 22-19 scoring six straight points before a Bulldogs timeout. Boiling Springs would rally to tie the match at 23, but the Jackets closed the sweep out with two consecutive points.
Oct. 21 Roundup
The Catawba Ridge girls’ volleyball team won 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-20) to sweep Fountain Inn in the first round of the 4A state playoffs. Catawba Ridge will now travel to No. 2 seed Greenville on Oct. 26 for a second-round match up. The Copperheads improved to 21-13 on the season with the win.
Late Tuesday, the Fort Mill boys’ volleyball lost to the Rock Hill Bearcats in the first round of the 5A state playoffs 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 11-25, 21-25). Fort Mill finished their season at 14-14 overall.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
