By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director
SAND ROCK – The Spring Garden Lady Panthers were dealt a major blow on the volleyball court in a tournament at Good Hope on Saturday morning.
In the Lady Panthers’ first match of the day against Priceville, senior outside hitter Ace Austin suffered a high right ankle sprain after she went up for a block and landed awkwardly on a Priceville player’s foot.
Austin was in a boot on the bench for the Lady Panthers’ tri-match at Sand Rock with Ider on Monday evening. Her head coach and father Ricky Austin said Ace had x-rays and an MRI done on her ankle, but as of the this posting had not heard the final results.
In the meantime, Coach Austin is using Ace’s injury as a positive.
“You lose a player like Ace, with the things she does and the way she plays, it probably camouflages some things. Now everything is more critical,” he said. “We’ve got to be cleaner. Immediately when she got injured Saturday, we were like ‘Hey, this is a blessing for the rest of us. Let’s everybody step up.’
“We’ve depended on Ace a lot, so this could be good in the long run if we get everybody back by the end and everybody improves through this. This could be really good for us.”
Two players who stepped up on Monday for the Lady Panthers were senior outside hitter Maggie Jarrett and senior middle Olivia Law. Jarrett delivered seven kills and five digs while Law collected four kills, two digs and two blocks in a 25-16, 25-18 win over Sand Rock. In a 25-10, 25-20 win over Ider, Jarrett accumulated nine digs, seven kills, two aces and a block, while Law posted five kills and an ace as the Lady Panthers improved to 5-2 on the season.
Against Sand Rock in the first set, the Lady Panthers were tied at 15 before going on 10-1 run to close things out, including six unanswered points to finish the set.
In the second set, Spring Garden built an 18-12 advantage. Sand Rock managed to cut the Lady Panthers’ edge to 18-15, but Spring Garden before closed out the set and match on a 7-3 run.
Avery Steward contributed 12 assists, four digs and an ace for the Lady Panthers against Sand Rock. Kristen Lewis came away with 12 digs, two aces and an assist. Montana Highfield had four digs, two kills and an assist. Chloe Fennell contributed a block and had an assist. Hollis Jane Petty posted two kills and a dig. Lacie Jo McMurry finished with a dig and an ace.
Spring Garden built an 8-1 edge and cruised to the win in the first set of their second match with Ider. Ider rebounded to take a 20-19 lead in the second set before the Lady Panthers went on a 6-0 run to close things out, including the final two kills by Jarrett.
Steward delivered 14 assists, a dig and a kill. Lewis posted 10 digs. Highfield contributed a kill, a dig and an ace. Fennell had two kills and a block. Petty managed a pair of digs. Belle Bussler and McMurry both finished with a dig apiece.
“For the most part I can’t complain about effort and enthusiasm. That’s still there,” Coach Austin said. “We’ve just got to find a way to be a little bit more effective.”
Sand Rock (1-7) also fell to Ider on Monday in the tri-match nightcap. Ider built a 6-2 advantage in the first set, but the Lady Wildcats managed to go out in front. They took a 17-10 edge before the Lady Hornets made their push, closing out the set on a 15-4 run.
Ider jumped out to a 4-0 advantage in the second set before Sand Rock caught up. The Lady Wildcats were down 18-16 before Ider went on a 6-2 run to take a 24-18 advantage. Sand Rock then scored four consecutive points to cut its deficit to two at 24-22, but following an Ider timeout, the Lady Hornets scored the set point to win the match.
“It’s frustrating because we have the parts, but sometimes the parts don’t work together,” Sand Rock coach Lisa Bates said. “You know they can. You see it happen in spurts, and then you’re like ‘Why can’t you do that all the time?’ We’re still having a hard time putting the ball away, scoring points off of kills, putting it in bounds. We have too many hitting errors. We’re young, and I keep trying to tell myself we’re inexperienced because these are all new girls (on varsity).
“We’ve just got to find what works. We might have to move some people around, but we’re going to have to find what works for us.”
For the tri-match, Paisley Ford posted 11 kills for the Lady Wildcats. Maddie Clanton added 23 assists. Kailee Patterson contributed six kills and three aces. Molly Grace Lay delivered 21 digs.
Sand Rock travels to Pleasant Valley on Tuesday for an area match. Spring Garden is at White Plains on Thursday.
