Both Nation Ford and Catawba Ridge walked away from the Nation Ford Invitational with a top five finish.
Catawba Ridge finished third in the event held at Nation Ford Saturday, and the host Falcons finished fourth. River Bluff won the 2021 event by beating JL Mann 2-0.
The 15-team volleyball tournament kicked off the season for both local teams. Nation Ford went 4-1 on the day and fell to River Bluff 2-0 in the semifinals.
“River Bluff played well,” said Falcons’ head coach Craig Brown. “We played well, we just didn’t finish.”
In pool play in the first half of the tournament, Nation Ford cruised through the tournament winning matches against Blythewood, Bishop England and Hillcrest. In the quarterfinals, the Falcons also cruised to a sweep of Hickory Ridge setting up the match in the semifinals of the tournament against River Bluff.
Nation Ford opens the regular season this week starting Tuesday at home.
Catawba Ridge also made it to the semifinals, but fell to JL Mann in three sets. The Copperheads went 3-2 on the day.
The Copperheads path was a little harder to get to the semifinals as they went 2-1 in pool play losing to Rock Hill in three. They would beat Lexington in three and beat Ashley Hall in straight sets to get to the quarterfinals. Once they got to the quarterfinals, they would get some revenge on Rock Hill winning in three sets setting up their semifinals match against JL Mann.
Catawba Ridge head coach Alicia Lisee said this tournament feels like a good precursor to the season, but knows there are things her team needs to work on.
“We are going to be strong this season,” Lisee said. “Our biggest thing is finishing. We need to learn to finish.”
Catawba Ridge opens their regular season Thursday with a tri-match at Hillcrest.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
