Lady Trojans survive Poquoson scare, advance in conference volleyball tournament

Lady Trojan Jada Evans (2) leaps to save an errant pass as teammate Alyssa Krause moves into position to assist.

Alan Chamberlain photo

Bouncing back from a disastrous fourth set that enabled visiting Poquoson to deadlock the match at two sets apiece, New Kent’s fourth-seeded Lady Trojans unleashed seven kills and benefited from fifth-seeded Islander errors in the decisive fifth set to advance to the semifinals in the Colonial Rivers Conference volleyball tournament.

Tonight’s (Monday) 19-25, 25-15, 25-23, 17-25, 15-10 victory vaults New Kent, now 15-9, into Wednesday’s 5:30 p.m. semifinal at Colonial Heights against top-seeded Warhill.

“We were lucky to come away with a win,” said Lady Trojan head coach Cyndi Burnett, noting that the Islanders pushed her team to the limit even with their top front line hitter, Toni-Anne Whitlow, relegated to the bench with a leg injury.

“The ref called a tight game and that affected the tone of the game,” the coach said. “Our setters’ setting was off, but I told the girls to try to go with the flow, stay calm, and keep our hits in the court.”

After losing the first set, New Kent recovered to take the second in comfortable fashion and hold off the Islanders in the third. But in the quest to end the match, the hosts fell apart midway through set four. A 15-13 lead evaporated thanks to numerous errors, and the Islanders closed with a 12-2 run to force a fifth set.

But the hosts won first serve to start the decisive set, quickly jumping in front behind Paige Simpson’s serve. A Simpson kill followed by a Poquoson miscue opened a 4-1 advantage.

“It’s important, especially in a 15-point game, to take an early lead,” said Burnett. “You don’t want to start out in a hole.”

The Islanders, however, answered with four consecutive points to take the lead. The teams traded points before Madison Beasley’s kill put the hosts back in front 7-6. New Kent never trailed the rest of the way.

Poquoson pulled back within one at 9-8, but Simpson hammered a shot into a vacant corner in the Islander defense to spark a 3-0 run capped by a Sydney Griffith kill for a 12-8 lead. The visitors got no closer than 13-10 before back-to-back Islander shots sailed out of bounds to hand New Kent the victory.

“Poquoson played a heck of a game,” Burnett said. “They never let up and never made mental mistakes. We had our share of mental mistakes.”

Griffith pounded 18 kills while Simpson added 10 to lead the Lady Trojan offense. Beasley and Kaitlyn Claytor each contributed seven followed by Millie Rudolph’s six. Simpson dished out 19 assists while Emiley Angle was credited with 16.

On defense, Simpson led with 17 digs, Jada Evans had 14, and Rudolph chipped in 10 while Claytor managed a team-high three blocks.