Lady Trojans defeat Kettle Run in state quarterfinals; sets up rematch with Grafton

New Kent’s Mackenzie Loveland would be the catalyst that led the Lady Trojans to have more than 40 kills in Saturday’s semifinals matchup against the Kettle Run Lady Cougars.

Robb Johnson photo

After falling to Grafton’s Lady Clippers in the regional semifinals, New Kent’s Lady Trojans found themselves on the road taking on the Kettle Run Lady Cougars in the Group 3A State Quarterfinals Saturday afternoon. And while the Lady Cougars posted a near-perfect record, it was the battle-tested Lady Trojans who earned an opportunity to continue their journey towards a championship.

New Kent emerged victorious, winning in five sets 25-23, 19-25, 25-22, 23-25, 15-11 over Kettle Run, setting up a rematch with the Grafton Lady Clippers one more time in the state semifinals.

In the opening set, New Kent found themselves trailing by eight (9-17) early on. But a kill by Leah Rounds proved to be a momentum swinging play. Additional kills by Fallon Greenawalt helped cut the deficit to three (20-23), when the Lady Trojans scored five straight points, rocking Kettle Run and stealing the first set.

After the Lady Cougars captured the second frame, New Kent jumped out to a 5-1 advantage in the third set. Kettle Run orchestrated a run to tie the game at 10 apiece. But New Kent remained poised, answering point with point with the hosts before emerging victorious in the frame.

In the fourth set, Kettle Run and New Kent watched as they see-sawed the lead back and forth. And as New Kent threatened to capture the match, the Lady Cougars were able to string together a small run, winning the fourth frame and sending the contest to a decisive fifth set.

In the fifth set, New Kent gained an early 4-1 advantage before the hosts worked their way back into the contest. Leading 10-9, New Kent locked in as a Rounds kill stretched the lead. Two errors by the Lady Cougars quickly doubled the visitors lead (13-9) in the race to 15.

An error by New Kent returned control of the serves to Kettle Run. The Lady Cougars notched a kill to cut the lead down to two (13-11).

But at that point, it would be a duo of plays that closed out the contest in favor of the visitors. Another kill by Rounds set up match point. From there, a Carly Sachs serve was unable to be returned by Kettle Run, resulting in the match concluding in favor of the Lady Trojans.

Rounds finished the contest with 21 kills, while Greenawalt contributed 15 of her own.