Lady Trojans regain momentum, top Bruton in five sets

New Kent's Lady Trojans celebrate after the final kill in their five-set volleyball victory over Bruton's Panthers.

Alan Chamberlain photo

Although New Kent’s Lady Trojans lost the fourth set to send their best-of-five volleyball match with Bruton’s visiting Panthers into a decisive fifth, the hosts managed to bounce back most of the way from an 18-4 deficit in that fourth set in before falling 25-21.

With the match now deadlocked at two sets apiece, the question arose: Could the Lady Trojans transfer that rekindled momentum into the fifth and final set?

They could. And they did.

Sparked by five Madison Beasley kills, the Lady Trojans took command from the start in capturing the fifth set 15-10. Coupled with earlier 25-21 and 25-15 scores Thursday night, the hosts upped their record to 5-3.

“We toughed it out at the end,” said a relieved New Kent head coach, Cyndi Burnett. “That momentum change in the fourth set — it was huge. We made a big, big turnaround and carried that momentum into the fifth set.”

New Kent cruised in the early going, building a seemingly comfortable 11-4 advantage in the opening set. Bruton, however, gradually crept back to overtake their hosts, the final time at 21-all, before a pair of crucial blocks courtesy of Kayla Davis sealed the 25-21 win.

Passing miscues on the part of the hosts led to Bruton pulling away in set two (25-16), but the outcome appeared to head New Kent’s way with a dominating performance by the hosts in the third set (25-15). A multitude of errors, though, helped Bruton mount an 8-0 lead in the fourth.

“[Bruton’s] serves were different from what we usually see,” Burnett said. “They were kind of loopy, and we weren’t getting under them. We talked about that and made some adjustments.

“Our hitting was also off, but Madison [14 kills] and Millie [Rudolph, 11 kills] came through when we needed them,” she said.

Back-to-back Beasley kills put the Lady Trojans up 4-1 in set five. Rudolph and Zoe Smith contributed kills and Sydney Griffith chipped in with an ace before Beasley ended the match on her final kill of the night. Bruton never got closer than two (8-6) in the final set.

Griffith finished with nine kills and three aces while Paige Simpson served four aces. From the setter positions, Simpson led with 22 assists while Emiley Angle dished out 15.

On defense, Simpson totaled 17 digs while Rudolph and Jada Evans managed 11 and 10 respectively. Kaitlyn Claytor registered one unassisted and six assisted blocks.