New Kent battles Warhill in five-set win to cap off Senior Night
New Kent’s Alexis Powell (3) resorts to a tip over Warhill’s towering duo of Destinee Davenport and Brielle Kelso to place the ball over the net.Robb Johnson photo
After sweeping the Warhill Lady Lions in the season earlier, New Kent’s Lady Trojans looked to cap off their home slate with a win on Senior Night. But in the Oct. 20 rematch, it would take a lot more effort and gritty determination to upend Warhill.
Fighting for five tenacious sets, New Kent emerged as the victor 25-13, 25-27, 25-20, 24-26, 15-10 to cap off a successful Senior Night celebration.
In the first set, both teams battled back and forth, locking up at a tie at nine apiece. But Aubrey Hyndshaw made the most of her Senior Night, executing one of her 19 kills on the night that sparked a 16-4 run to win the first set.
In the next stanza, New Kent found themselves down early before they climbed back into it. Eventually, the hosts were able to overtake Warhill and sat on a 24-22 lead. However, a kill be Warhill’s Destinee Davenport along with one from her teammate Tristen Keene knotted the game at 24 apiece. After each team exchanged a point in the deuce situation, New Kent’s Kaleigh Redman’s tip attempt went into the net. Warhill would score the next point to clinch the set.
In the third frame, New Kent emerged with a new purpose, exploding to a 21-9 lead. But not even that lead was safe, as Warhill battled back with a 11-4 run as Warhill’s Davenport, using her 6’1” height advantage, blocked many of New Kent’s kill attempts while delivering devastating attacks of her. But eventually Hyndshaw’s placement of a well-timed spike and score captured the third set for the hosts.
The back-and-forth battle that seemed to be between Hyndshaw and Davenport continued into the fourth set. But intimidation by Davenport forced New Kent into several errors down the stretch. Forced into a deuce situation, Warhill added two points to send the match into a fifth and final set to see which team could reach 15 points first.
In the final stanza, it was the other New Kent senior who made an impact in the match. Senior Sophie McLaughlin had two critical aces to hand control of the set to the Lady Trojans. Withstanding the final attempts by Warhill, the Lady Trojans captured the final set 15-10 to win the match.
After the contest, New Kent Lady Trojans Head Coach spoke about how his team is clicking at the right time.
“We came in young and with only four returning players and it’s taken us the first half of the season to play at the Bay Rivers level,” he commented. “We are seeing production from most of our hitters, and they are starting to believe they can win at the right time.”
New Kent concludes the regular season with a 14-9 record.