New Kent cruises over Poquoson in 2021 volleyball home opener

New Kent’s Logan McKenny (3) uses her height to elevate over the net to deliver a spike against Poquoson’s Abby Sutherland (11) and Samantha Chapman (13).

Robb Johnson photo

New Kent’s Lady Trojans volleyball team has hit a few bumpy patches early courtesy of energies. Despite starters Haley Baker and Jaiden McCoy out for a considerable amount of time, Tuesday evening’s volleyball home opener proved that the powerhouse program continues to have others step in and do their part.

New Kent cruised in straight sets 25-16, 25-19, 25-12 in the Bay Rivers District contest against the visiting Poquoson Lady Islanders, continuing their hot start to the season.

New Kent’s aggressiveness thwarted Poquoson’s early strategy to match up with them through rotations. The Lady Trojans jumped out early in the first set, taking a five-point advantage (13-8) and stretching it out after Julia Hathaway’s tap over the net landed in between several Poquoson players, prompting the hosts to claim the first set.

The second frame was more competitive, as Poquoson took their first lead in the match at 11-10. New Kent was able to calm down, with Lexie Powell serving up scores and contributing with seven aces in the match, including two straight that separated the hosts from the Lady Islanders. From there, a third set rout finished off by Lady Trojan Andrea Sorensen’s ace finished off the sweep and notched another win for New Kent.

After the contest, New Kent Lady Trojans head coach Cynthia Burnett talked about her team’s performance, emphasizing that she was expecting more energy from her team.

“It was not a very inspiring game,” the coach said. “I think we played harder on Friday and Saturday.

“In the third game, we got our serving under control,” Burnett continued, pointing to the team’s return to form as they had played this past weekend in the Richmond Volleyball Classic tournament. “Today was the first day of school and I think they had a lot of things on their mind. But they pulled it together in the third game and it was more of what I was expecting.”

New Kent (7-1) registered 36 kills on the night, with Hathaway contributing 20 and Aubrey Hyndshaw notching 13.