There is something about rivalry matches so far this year that allows the Fort Mill volleyball team to bring their A game.
Fort Mill shutout Catawba Ridge 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-17) Tuesday as the Jackets improved to 13-4 on the season. For Fort Mill, that makes them 2-0 against both Nation Ford and Catawba Ridge, but they play them both one more time on the season.
Fort Mill head coach Jim Seidel said he is worried about the emotional roller coaster his team has gotten on after big wins. After beating Nation Ford 3-0 to open Region 3-5A play, they then fell 3-0 to Clover in their next match.
“As a coach, that is a hard thing to deal with,” Seidel said. “But our seniors came to play tonight.”
For Catawba Ridge, head coach Alicia Lisee said for team it is a matter of confidence and grit.
“We still see ourselves as the new kids on the block,” she said. “We don’t believe we are at that level yet.”
Lisee said her team needed to develop grit to feel like they can hang with teams like Fort Mill. Catawba Ridge is 4-0 in Region 3-4A and 12-7 overall on the season.
Catawba Ridge started the first two sets going up 1-0, but in both occasions, Fort Mill battled back to take the lead and hold it. In the opening set, Fort Mill took a 7-5 lead and then eased their way to a 11-7 lead with the Copperheads holding their own. However, Fort Mill was too strong and started to pull away as they went up 18-11 before closing out the set with a strong 25-17 win.
Despite a good start in the second set, the Copperheads couldn’t hold off Fort Mill as the Jackets went up 9-4. Catawba Ridge rallied to pull within one at 10-9 before a Fort Mill time out, but the Jackets were able to come out and score eight consecutive points to go up 18-9. The Copperheads were able to stay close, but the Fort Mill offense was too much for Catawba Ridge in the end with a 25-18 win.
In the third set it was all Fort Mill from the beginning as they went up 10-5 and then held Catawba Ridge at arm’s length for the majority of the set getting a 25-17 win.
Fort Mill will now return to region play Thursday at home against Boiling Springs where they hope to continue their momentum. Catawba Ridge heads to South Pointe for a region match of their own.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
