By Mark Carpenter-
Southern Hills Athletic Conference volleyball action came to West Union High School on Friday, Sept. 18 as the host Lady Dragons welcomed to town the Lady Indians of Peebles High School. Both teams have had their ups and downs this season with the Lady Dragons fielding a young, no senior squad while the Lady Indians are rebuilding with a nearly entire new roster.
On Friday night, however, the match belonged to the visitors as the Lady Indians made short work of their hosts. Taking advantage of the dry spells that have haunted the West Union girls all season, the Peebles girls swept out of town with a straight set win- 25-17, 25-16, 25-16.
The first set looked promising for the home team, going up 4-0 behind the serves of Madison Taylor, but then just as quickly falling behind 9-4 as the Lady Indians rode the serves of Darby Mills to nine consecutive points. Later, the Lady Dragons made a run with Lexi Rowe at the serve, and a Rowe kill drew the home team within 16-14, but that was as close as they’d get.
Three service points from Lanie Johnston combined with a kill from Summer Bird put Peebles up 20-14 and again the Lady Dragons hung in there with a Korynne Blanton kill making it 20-17. But again, the West Union girls ran into a dry spell at a bad time, as the serves of Taylor Cluxton and the net play of Jacey Justice added up to five straight points for the visitors, who took the first set 25-17.
Peebles jumped to the early lead in the second set until a pair of service points by West Union’s Audrey Weakley evened the set at 6 apiece. Later in the set with the Lady Indians up 14-10, the Lady Dragons ran off four straight to again tie the score but again they could not sustain the momentum as the Lady Indians took the side out five Mills’ serves later had reclaimed the lead at 20-14. After two points for West Union, Peebles again ran off the final five points of the set, getting a kill and a block from Saige Bird to take set two 25-16.
Set three began with the two teams swapping clusters of four points, but two of those went to Peebles, giving the Lady Indians an 8-4 advantage. A Weakley kill kept the Lady Dragons close but another letdown allowed the Lady Indians to reel off six straight, two of those service aces from Lily McFarland, and grab a 16-7 advantage. The Peebles girls controlled things from that point on, and finished the night off with a pair of Johnston kills, a 25-16 third set win, and a 3-0 win in the match.
