Lady Panthers improve, but King William takes the win

Charles City's Nijah Johnson (right) elevates to return the ball over a King William defender.

Andre' Jones photo

While wins and losses may be the focus for some schools, Charles City’s Lady Panthers volleyball focus centered on taking steps to becoming more competitive in its revival year. A Sept. 26 encounter with a King William Lady Cavaliers team provided evidence that the hosts were beginning to gel midway through the season.

Despite falling in straight sets to King William 25-8, 25-9, 25-11, the hosts had a few positive moments and noticeable differences. Movement by the Lady Panthers and utilizing passes instead of one hit volleys over the net proved to pay dividends as the hosts led at one point in each of the three sets.

In set two, a dive by Lady Panther Nijah Johnson kept the ball in play and rallied the host to four consecutive points before falling in the set. In the third frame, an Alexis Williams spike caromed off the fingertips of King William defenders for a score as Charles City held its biggest lead of the night 6-2.

But just like many other teams in the Tidewater District, experience and power favored the Lady Cavaliers, as they scored 16 straight points after Williams’ spike, allowing the visitors to up their record to 8-2.

Charles City head coach Vickie Williams said recent practices centered around her players trusting each other.

“We have worked on moving drills and we call it sharing the ball,” the head coach said. “We’ve been preaching that when we first make contact with the ball, we don’t have to be the first one to hit it over.

“It’s alright if everybody has a piece of the pie,” Williams continued, mentioning how players have been in better positions. “As we have more games, they are learning and picking up tricks from other teams and incorporating them into their skills. This is still a learning process for us.”

Charles City continues to search for their first win, falling to 0-11 on the season.