For the first time all season, the Nation Ford Falcons girls’ volleyball was pushed to a fifth set, but for them it was just another day at the office.
Nation Ford won the Upper State Championship 3-2 (25-15, 22-25, 25-18, 15-25, 15-10) over the Woodmont Wildcats Tuesday evening. The Falcons improved to 41-3 on the season. They will now travel to Dreher High School on Saturday, Nov. 16 to play for the 5A Division II state championship against North Myrtle Beach.
Nation Ford head coach Craig Brown was confident in his team, despite being pushed to a fifth set.
“We were up and down,” Brown said. “We did what we needed to do. I knew this team. They were battle tested.”
The Falcons scored first, but Woodmont carried their momentum from the fourth set into the final one. Neither team grabbed a quick advantage in the set battling to a 7-7 tie. Nation Ford grabbed a 9-8 lead as Woodmont called timeout.
Nation Ford was able to get to some off-balance shots and scored two of the first three points to go up 11-9 before another Wildcats timeout. The Falcons came out and scored three straight points before finishing off the match.
The Falcons opened the first set going up 6-0 before a quick Woodmont timeout. Nation Ford extended their lead to 8-2 with big play at the net and racking up kills.
The Falcons forced Woodmont into another timeout leading 15-6 in the first set. After the timeout, Woodmont made a run scoring five of the next seven points to cut into the Falcons lead.
Nation Ford took a timeout to regroup which worked as they scored five consecutive points to go up 22-11 before taking the opening set. The Falcons never trailed until the second set as Woodmont started 3-0 to open.
Nation Ford struggled getting to shots unlike the first set and Woodmont went up 11-6 early. The Falcons at times seemed rushed to get into position as the Wildcats maintained control in the second set leading to a Nation Ford timeout.
The short break seemed to help as the Falcons again regained some composure and climbed to within three at 14-11. Nation Ford would tie the set at 14 after a 6-0 run by the Falcons. The teams would then start trading points with neither getting a good advantage.
The Wildcats would finally grab a small 22-20 advantage. That small crack in the Falcons armor was all Woodmont needed to take the set and tie the match at one.
Dropping the set seemed to motivate the Falcons, as again they got off to another good start in the third set. The quick start was muted as Woodmont quickly tied things up. Nation Ford was able to get some separation as Mia Clyburn as able to come up with some meaningful kills to put the Falcons up 10-7.
The Falcons stayed on the attack as they went up 15-11 before a timeout. Out of the timeout, they kept their foot on the gas to go up 18-11. Nation Ford kept their commanding lead to take a 2-1 lead in the match before heading to the fourth set.
The fourth set started a lot closer as Woodmont was able to get blocks at the net preventing Nation Ford from jumping out to a big lead.
Neither team was able to surge ahead before the Falcons took a small 10-8 lead. The lead was short lived as the Wildcats finally found the surge they were looking for and went up 14-11 before a Nation Ford timeout.
The timeout helped as the Falcons scored three times to tie the set at 14. Woodmont then turned right around and went on a four-point run to go up 18-14. The surge was enough to create space as the Wildcats came up with big shots at the net to extend their lead and tie the match at two and force a fifth set.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
