SAND ROCK – The Sand Rock Lady Wildcats welcomed back junior middle hitter Lanie Henderson by sweeping Glencoe and Cherokee County in volleyball action on Monday.
Sand Rock (21-8) defeated Glencoe 25-18, 26-24 and then beat Cherokee County 25-14, 25-11. Glencoe held off Cherokee County 25-12, 25-23 in the other match of the evening.
“They played pretty loose today. They were acting like they were having fun together,” Sand Rock coach Lisa Bates said. “Overall, I was pleased with our effort and getting after it. We were working together and our chemistry was good. I felt like we hustled after the ball and spread the ball around.”
The second set against Glencoe was the Lady Wildcats’ most challenging for the night. The Yellow Jackets rallied from a five-point deficit late and took a 24-22 advantage. Sand Rock dug in and scored the set’s final four points to earn the win.
“I thought Glencoe came to play today,” Bates said. “They were playing very aggressively on defense and picking up most everything. We were like ‘We’re going to have to swing hard and put the ball down.’”
Hannah Davis led the Lady Wildcats with 14 kills and 13 digs for the night. Maci Brown added 11 kills and three blocks. Henderson had 10 kills. Caley Garrett collected 33 digs. Cheyanne Fuqua contributed eight kills and a pair of blocks.
Jacey Stephens had 25 assists and three aces. Katelyn St.Clair had seven kills. McKenna Ballenger came away with 20 assists and Makenzi Blackwell finished with 16 digs.
In Cherokee County’s match with Glencoe, the Lady Warriors built a 23-20 lead late in the second set before Glencoe surged ahead and finished things off.
“We battled back and forth, and pulled ahead some, but we dropped our guard and gave up several in a row,” Lady Warrior coach Tiffany Rieger said. “I thought one of the key plays was we had them late and we had a really good pass. Instead of setting the hitter, we gave them a free ball. It tied the game up again and we didn’t recover from that. Some of it is just being young and inexperienced.”
Ella Garmany collected seven digs, four kills and an assist. Kenzie Hunter had 12 digs, three assists and a kill. AK Reyes managed eight digs and an assist. Madison Leonard posted five digs and an assist. Sarai Ray added four assists, four digs and a kill.
Vivian Connell contributed two blocks, a dig, a kill and an assist. Madeline Ware came away with two blocks, a dig and a kill. Anna Walker had three kills and Emilee Paul finished with a dig.
Against Sand Rock, Garmany posted five kills, three digs, three assists and a block. Leonard contributed 11 digs and a kill. Hunter collected nine digs, four assists and a kill. Paul managed three digs, two kills and a block. Reyes and Crimson Colbert had eight and six digs respectively. Ware, Connell, Walker and Libby Curry each finished with a dig.
“I thought we got a lot of good touches on defense (against Sand Rock), but our Achilles heel is making one mistake and letting it snowball, then they get down on themselves,” Rieger said. “It’s mental. It’s just something we’ve got to work on. I know a lot of it will come with playing more. Most of the things we’re doing, we know better. We’re just not executing the way they know how.”
Cherokee County hosts White Plains and Collinsville on Tuesday, while Sand Rock hosts Westbrook Christian.
