Serving, veteran leadership key New Kent triumph over Tabb

Lady Trojans Zoe Smith (3) and Jenna Helt leap to defend a shot by Tabb's Madison Dadez.

Alan Chamberlain photo

Pinpoint serving accuracy helped New Kent’s Lady Trojans take control of and eventually finish off Tabb’s visiting Tigers in the teams’ Tuesday evening volleyball encounter. New Kent swept the Tigers in straight sets — 25-21, 25-12, 25-19 — raising the hosts’ record to 10-6.

“We’ve worked on our serving a lot because at the beginning of the year it was somewhat erratic, but we’ve got more confidence now,” said Lady Trojan coach Cyndi Burnett.

Three aces staked the hosts to an early 7-2 lead in the opening game. And when Tabb threatened to extend the match to a fourth game, late game three serving put the Lady Trojans in front to stay.

Veteran leadership also played a crucial role with senior Paige Simpson recording a team-high five service aces while fellow senior Sydney Griffith led in kills with 11. Junior Kaitlyn Claytor contributed six kills and four aces.

“I told them they had excellent games tonight in serving, hitting, and blocking,” Burnett said. “Their overall play was at the level it should be.”

Tabb closed the gap in the first game, but Griffith’s play at the net held off the Tigers. After the visitors pulled within one at 7-6, her second kill of the night launched an 8-3 New Kent run. The hosts then withstood a late Tabb rally.

The hosts dominated in game two, taking a double-digit lead behind three Griffith kills and aces from Claytor and Simpson. Claytor’s second ace put the exclamation point on the game two win.

The Tigers, however, applied pressure in game three, vaulting to a 15-9 advantage while capitalizing mostly on Lady Trojan miscues.

“The last time at Tabb, we started off slow but were able to pick it up like we did tonight,” said Burnett.

A Tiger carrying violation handed side out to New Kent. Claytor then delivered an ace to spur the hosts’ comeback.

Griffith’s lone ace for the match overtook the Tigers at 17-17. Zoe Smith followed with a kill to put the hosts in front for the first time since the score was 2-1. Tabb regained the lead momentarily before another Smith kill created a 19-19 deadlock.

Jada Evans, who led New Kent in digs with 14, stepped into the server’s spot, dropping an ace in a soft spot in the Tiger defense. A Simpson kill, another Evans ace, and three straight Tiger errors ended the match.

“[Tabb] got a little pumped up in that third game,” Burnett said. “But we did what we needed to do and got refocused.”