Grafton continues stranglehold over Lady Trojans in volleyball

New Kent’s Leah Rounds (right) winds up to deliver akill while being challenged by Grafton’s Ana Breckons (15) and Alana Washington (3).

Robb Johnson photo

For the last dozen years, New Kent’s Lady Trojans have yet to figure out how to take down the Grafton Lady Clippers on the volleyball court. And at least for another match-up, they will have to wait for a rematch for a second opportunity.

New Kent’s Lady Trojans fell 15-25, 25-18, 20-25, 17-25 in the Aug. 29 Bay Rivers District contest.

In the early going, the hosting Lady Trojans were able to take a lead (10-9) thanks to a long rally. But a service error by the hosts returned the serve to Grafton. From that point, the visitors worked to orchestrate a 15-5 run, mostly thanks to Grafton’s Kenzie Smith making scoring a difficult task with her 6’2” frame blocking and spiking the ball.

But New Kent didn’t lose focus as they came out in the second set with purpose. The hosts gradually pulled away, making timely scores and minimizing mistakes to win the frame and tie the match at one apiece.

In the third set, a kill by Lady Trojan Leah Rounds cut Grafton’s advantage to three (21-18) late in the set. But a retaliation score by Lady Clipper Alana Washington thwarted the momentum, allowing the guests to capture the third set.

Grafton raced out to an 11-3 lead to kick off the fourth stanza. New Kent slowly creeped back into the contest, with a spike and score by Kendall White to close the gap to three (14-11). But from there, the Lady Clippers’ experience and aggression proved too much for the hosts, as Grafton finished the contest off in four sets.

After the contest, New Kent Lady Trojans Head Coach Stuart Burnett spoke about the miscues his team committed in the contest.

“We made mistakes that we didn’t make in last week’s [preseason] tournament,” the coach said. “I was a little disappointed in our serving in the first game and that let them get ahead.

“Despite that, we stayed close most of the game,” Burnett continued. “We have to work on our passing, our digging, and get our players settled in.”

New Kent falls to 1-1 on the season.