By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director
CEDAR BLUFF – Shortly after sweeping area rival Cedar Bluff 25-16, 25-11 and 25-10 on Tuesday evening, Spring Garden head coach Ricky Austin was glancing at the Lady Panthers’ stat sheet. He remarked about the consistency he saw, something he’s seen a lot of here of late.
Nine girls contributed in some fashion, and not just a kill here or a dig there. It’s that kind of consistency the Lady Panthers (36-3) have become accustomed to during their 26-match winning streak that includes an undefeated mark area play (8-0).
“That’s kind of been consistent with us, the consistency across. I like that,” Austin said. “We’ve got a lot of girls swinging at the ball. We’ve got a lot of girls touching the ball at different areas on the floor. They’re doing a great job.
“Our ball control is pretty good right now. When you can control the ball it gives you a chance.”
And, when a team controls the ball, it prevents the opponent from getting in a consistent rhythm themselves.
“We had moments where we looked very good, but then other moments where we struggled, mostly in decision making,” Cedar Bluff coach Deidra Cox said. “That hurt us several times tonight, the decisions we made. Also, we didn’t serve enough. We let them serve too many times. We really had to play defense too much.”
Cedar Bluff managed to keep things close midway through the first set, trailing 16-12. But then the Lady Panthers began to pull away with four straight points to extend their lead to eight, forcing Cox to call a timeout.
“We started out slow I thought,” Austin said. “(Monday) night, we come out of the county championship game and played (Jacksonville Christian), and I was a little concerned, but we were clean, very sharp and crisp. We weren’t quite as crisp and sharp tonight as we were (Monday) night, but like I told them when it was over, it was great to grind out and get momentum.
“I thought as the match went on we played with more momentum. That’s all you can ask them to do: adjust. You’re not going to come out and play great every night. I thought we were a little sluggish early, but I do feel like as we went along our momentum got really good.”
As Austin said, Spring Garden jumped out to a 16-6 advantage in the second set and cruised to the win. The Lady Panthers scored the first four points of the third set and built a 20-7 edge, forcing Cox to call another timeout.
“Spring Garden is such a well-disciplined team,” she said. “Each girl on that team knows their job and their role and they do it to perfection. That’s what makes them so good in so many aspects of the game. When they’re on a roll, they’re on a roll. It’s very hard to find weaknesses in several aspects of their game.”
Ace Austin led the Lady Panthers with 12 kills, two digs and an assist. Avery Steward contributed 35 assists and an ace. Chloe Rule collected 11 kills and a pair of blocks. Maggie Jarrett delivered five kills, two aces, two digs and an assist. Olivia Law managed nine kills and a block.
Layla Ingram came away with four digs and an ace. Maggie Reedy had three digs and an ace. Helena Ingram and Kristen Lewis both finished with a pair of digs.
Kindal Grace and Caley Bruce led Cedar Bluff (11-15) with six kills and a block apiece. Anslee Evans added a pair of kills and a pair of blocks. Lacie Roer posted two kills and two digs. Graceland Benton contributed two kills and two aces. Rylie Walker finished with 14 assists, three digs and a kill.
