Charles City can’t maintain rallies as Essex sweeps season series

Charles City’s Taniyah Williams (7) delivers a spike attempt that would deflect off of Essex’s Morgan Self (left) as teammate Cheyenne Christian (8) stands by in the ready position.

Robb Johnson photo

Monday afternoon’s volleyball matchup between the hosting Charles City Lady Panthers and the visiting Essex Lady Trojans saw a matchup of two programs looking to rebuild. For the hosting Lady Panthers, while they had their moments, sudden ends to rallies played into the downfall and their fourth consecutive loss.

Charles City fell 8-25, 14-25, 15-25 in the non-district contest, allowing the Lady Trojans to sweep the season series.

After Essex dominated the first set, Charles City was able to hold a lead (3-1) after an ace from Taniyah Williams and a score from teammate Cheyenne Christian. However, Essex strung together a 14-1 run to take a commanding lead. The Lady Panthers retaliated, cutting the lead down to six (18-12) after Williams’ block deflected off an Essex defender. But the deflection didn’t rattle the visitors as they went on a 7-2 run to close out the set.

In frame three, Charles City once again jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Essex tied the game at 3 apiece before Charles City mounted a 10-7 advantage, forcing the visitors to call a timeout. That brief intermission was enough for the Lady Trojans, as they rattled off the next seven points and built on their advantage in the remainder of the contest to clinch the victory.

After the game, Charles City Lady Panthers Head Coach Lillani Adkins said that her team needs to project their voices on the floor.

“There is more communication, but we aren’t there yet,” she said, referencing moments when Essex went on rallies. “We should have had better scoring and have to improve on reading the floor.

“In the end, they all have to do their assignments on the floor,” Adkins concluded.

Charles City drops to 0-4 on the season.