New Kent falls to Poquoson in volleyball

New Kent hitter Kayla Davis punches a shot over the blocking attempt by Poquoson's Megan Saetre.

Alan Chamberlain photo

With a little bit of luck, New Kent’s Lady Trojans could have taken a two games to none lead over Poquoson’s visiting Islanders and been in control of the teams’ best-of-five volleyball clash Thursday night.

Instead, the Lady Trojans blew a late lead in game one before evening the affair with a game two win. Poquoson then took advantage of New Kent passing errors in game three before Islander hitter Toni-Anne Whitlow dominated game four. Poquoson (10-2) prevailed 25-23, 18-25, 25-23, 25-14.

Lucy Adamson’s service ace staked the Lady Trojans to a 23-20 lead in the opening game, but the Islanders pulled even on a Whitlow kill, one of 23 she unleashed on the night, and moved ahead to stay on her block. Lindsay Lang’s ace put game one in the Poquoson win column.

“That was the game we really needed to put away and have under our belt, but we just didn’t have the offense to do it,” said Lady Trojan coach Cyndi Burnett.

Unfazed, however, her team battled back in game two, taking a commanding 21-14 lead on a Paige Simpson kill. Poquoson never got closer than the 25-18 final.

But passing errors plagued the hosts in game three. Poquoson pulled ahead by five before New Kent rallied late behind Kaitlyn Claytor’s serving. Back-to-back Claytor aces closed the gap to 24-23, but a net serve halted the hosts’ bid.

Whitlow took over the rest of the way, managing most of her match-high kill total in the fourth and final game. The Islanders vaulted to a 13-3 lead and never looked back.

“When 5 [Whitlow] is on the front line, that’s when they get their points, and we had no answer for her,” Burnett said.

“Our serving, passing, and digging were good, and we got in some good hits,” she added, pointing to team-high kills from Simpson and Sydney Griffith (11 each) along with Claytor’s eight and Zoe Smith’s six.

Emiley Angle led in assists with 34 while Jada Evans and Griffith combined for 30 digs. New Kent is now 7-6.

“We lost to a good team,” Burnett said. “A few less unforced errors and getting a few more hits in, it could have been different.”