One day after getting shutout by Nation Ford, the Fort Mill volleyball team bounced back to beat other crosstown rival Catawba Ridge Copperheads 3-2 in a back-and-forth match Wednesday.
Fort Mill won 19-25, 25-14, 23-25, 27-25, 15-11 and improved to 13-7 overall on the season. The loss drops Catawba Ridge to 12-7 overall.
Jackets’ head coach Makala McCrorey said she was proud of how her team rallied after being shutout by Nation Ford Tuesday.
“We responded better,” she said. “We communicated better. We fought to the end.”
The turning point in the match came in the fourth set with the Copperheads leading 2-1 and holding a 14-5 lead before Fort Mill started a rally and tied the set at 19-19. Fort Mill would then push ahead and battle Catawba Ridge to squeeze out a 27-25 win to tie the match at 2-2.
“The momentum played a part,” said Catawba Ridge head coach Alicia Lisee. “The fourth set we had a nine-point lead. There is no reason we shouldn’t have won. We have to make sure we stay focused to point 25.”
Things didn’t start well for Fort Mill as they dropped the first set. The Copperheads opened the first set going up 10-7 after the two teams traded points back and forth through the first 14 points. Catawba Ridge then scored eight out of the next 11 points to take an 18-11 lead and forced the Jackets into a time out.
After winning the first set, the two teams continued their back-and-forth battle into the second set. Catawba Ridge led 10-7, but Fort Mill rattled off five consecutive points to go up 12-10. That gave the Jackets the momentum they were looking for as they started to pull away and went up 20-14 to force the Copperheads into a time out.
With the match tied at 1-1, Catawba Ridge bounced back to win the third set. Fort Mill took an early 15-9 lead, but the Copperheads clawed their way back into the set and tied things up at 21-21. The Copperheads would then grab the win scoring four of the next six points to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
After the fourth set win by Fort Mill tied the match at 2-2, Catawba Ridge jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the deciding fifth set. The Copperheads pushed ahead to go up 9-6, before Fort Mill took a time out. Coming out of the time out Fort Mill rattled off six consecutive points to have the momentum swing their way and go up 12-9 forcing Catawba Ridge into a time out. After the time out, Fort Mill held things together and would take the set and match win.
Up next for Fort Mill is a home match against Blythewood Thursday for their third match in three days. Catawba Ridge is scheduled to travel to Lancaster to take on the Bruins Thursday as well.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
