Upset-minded Lady Trojans fall short in attempt to topple Warhill

New Kent's Torii Pickett serves up a rally during the fourth set against Warhill.

Robb Johnson photo

In sports, the word upset can often be overused to describe an underdog defeating a heavily favorite team. New Kent’s volleyball team had a chance after Warhill standout Hailey Hopkins went down with an injury.

But the pedigree of the visiting Lady Lions proved too much for the hosting Lady Trojans, defeating New Kent 25-23, 17-25, 21-25, and 15-25 in Tuesday night action.

Early in the first set, Hopkins suffered a setback that opened an opportunity for New Kent to jump on top early. Back-and-forth rallies continued with both teams before the hosts took advantage of Warhill’s inability to rotate and claimed the opening frame.

Warhill rebounded in the next two sets, taking advantage of the inexperienced Lady Trojans. In the fourth set, New Kent’s Torii Pickett magic touch on her serves propelled the hosts out to a 9-4 early advantage. However, the Lady Lions figured out a way to counter-attack the hosts’ approach, tying the score at 10-10 after breaking a couple of aces as part of a 21-6 run to close the contest.

Lady Trojan head coach Cynthia Burnett had a couple of positive comments despite the disappointing outcome.

“I think the other team got down [after Hopkins’ injury] and a little out of sorts while we kept playing our game,” she said. “My biggest frustration is that we kept missing serves.

“We had three servers at one point who missed three serves in a row and that can’t happen,” Burnett continued. “Other than that, we played well, and I feel that we had a golden opportunity because they were struggling on their end as well. In hindsight, I wish we could have done things better.”

New Kent drops to 6-8 on the season.