CLOVER – The Nation Ford Lady Falcons finished Region 3-5A play perfect Tuesday night and locked up the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.
Nation Ford beat Clover 3-1 (25-20, 25-15, 22-25, 25-11) to finish the regular season at 38-3 and 12-0 in region play. The win should give them the No. 1 seed heading into the playoffs and home court advantage. Nation Ford should know about the top seed by Oct. 29, with the first round starting on Oct. 31.
“We have had to have some mental sessions at times,” said Nation Ford head coach Craig Brown. “They played a very good Clover team. They did what they needed to do.”
The Falcons started a little slow, but were able to quickly gain a lead in the opening set against Clover.
Nation Ford went up 9-5 and then extended that to 13-7 before a Clover timeout. The Falcons held command of the set and went up 20-13 before three consecutive Blue Eagle points. Clover kept the set close, but Nation Ford was able to close out the set with a five-point win.
Nation Ford started the second set going up 4-0. The Falcons were strong at the net in returning serves and were even stronger in setting up kills which kept them in firm control. The Falcons went up 14-6 before a Clover timeout. Out of the timeout, Nation Ford continued to cruise going on to take the second set.
Despite going up 2-0, Clover started strong as they were able to place shots and take the lead early on. Nation Ford struggled to get back into the set and went down 12-7 before a timeout.
The Falcons were able to start chipping away and climbed back into the match tying it at 17 and forcing Clover into a timeout. Clover took a small lead at 21-19 and the Falcons took another timeout. Nation Ford wasn’t able to regroup as the Blue Eagles took the third set and climbed back into the match.
Nation Ford started the fourth set aggressively taking the attack to Clover and went up 10-2 to start.
After a Clover timeout, the Falcons were able to stay strong and dig balls that they missed in the third set. Nation Ford was also able to rack up kills at the net as they would go up 20-6 before taking the set and match.
Nation Ford won’t play again until Nov. 5 in hosting a second-round playoff match.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
