After capturing opening set, New Kent Lady Trojans drop next three to Grafton
New Kent’s Jaiden McCoy looks to volley the ball back to the opponents’ side with an overhead bump.Robb Johnson photo
New Kent Lady Trojans’ volleyball team has faced fierce competition from their 4A Bay Rivers district opposition. An Oct. 19 meeting was another hiccup in a battle against the visiting Grafton Lady Clippers.
Unforced errors by the hosts and a lack in serving handed New Kent a 25-19, 22-25, 21-25, 21-25 defeat in the contest.
New Kent started things off on a high note. With the score tied as seven apiece, the Lady Trojans executed a 6-2 run. Grafton battled back to take a one-point lead (17-16) after a Chloe Phillips kill, but the hosts kept their composure, utilizing three kills by Julia Hathaway capture the first set.
Set two saw Grafton capitalize on the errors of the home squad. The visitors held slight advantages, never losing focus on the lead as they captured the second frame. In the third set, New Kent jumped out to an early 6-1 lead over the Lady Clippers. But Graton overcame that deficit, turning around what was once a huge deficit and turning it into an advantage to win the set.
In the fourth frame, Logan McKenney’s diving underhand dig launched a run for the Lady Trojans and assisted them to a 16-12 lead. But Grafton’s Naomi Smalls took control of the contest, using a kill that was a pendulum in the momentum shift, putting the visitors on top to stay as they captured the match.
After the contest, New Kent Lady Trojans Head Coach Cynthia Burnett spoke about the unforced errors and the playoff type atmosphere.
“The first game I don’t think we had any unforced errors,” she said. “But in the second game, we had a stretch and called a timeout to talk about it. But that was the theme all night long to cut down on unforced errors and not give them any points.
“Our biggest disappointment was our serving, and we missed some crucial ones,” she added. “Right now, we are focusing on Tabb as they are 3A and that is our biggest focus.”
New Kent falls to 15-4 on the season.