Thursday, September 4, 2014

Volley Raiders earn split in Hartwell

The Volley Raiders had one last tune-up before opening region play next week by taking on Jefferson and Hart County Thursday night in Hartwell. Jefferson won the first match 2-0 (25-19 and 25-13) but the Raiders bounced back by taking down the host Hart County team 2-0 (25-21 and 25-7).
Madison County battled with a tough Jefferson team in both sets. In the first set, the Raiders edged back from a 17-13 deficit midway through cutting the lead to 18-16 but that would be as close as the Volley Raiders would get. The Lady Dragons pulled away scoring four unanswered points and held off a late rally by Madison County, despite three consecutive point serves from Amber Adams, to take the win. 
In the second set, the Raiders' Mya Moss scored on a kill to tie the set at 7-7 but the Lady Dragons had an answer once again later in the set by rolling off five straight points to retake a 17-9 lead. Jefferson later extended their lead to 23-10 eventually pulling away with the set and match win.
Madison County wrapped up the night's play by sweeping Hart County 2-0. The first set, the Raiders were in a battle with the host team. Hart County battled back to tie the set on five different occasions but Mya Moss gave the Raiders a little breathing room by rolling off three straight point serves to extend the lead to 23-20 and Mackenzie LaZear put the lid on the win by scoring the winning point on a kill.
The second set with the Bulldogs was never in doubt. Sam Watson got things rolling by serving seven unanswered points and Amber Adams went on a six point serving streak late to push the Volley Raiders out to an 18-3 advantage. LaZear would strike again later in the set by knocking down three more kills to pace Madison County to the 25-7 set win and 2-0 match win.