Flyers Volleyball Improves to 3-0 with Two Tri-Match Wins
The Sandhills Community College Flyers volleyball team picked up two wins in a home Tri-Match on Saturday inside the Hangar on the Sandhills campus.
In the first match of the day, the Flyers faced Louisburg College and came away with a three-set sweep.
Set scores: 25-12, 25-8, 25-15.
"I feel like any time we can get all of our players in and play some different positions, we're starting to figure out our chemistry," Flyers head coach Alicia Riggan said. "We just have to make sure we stay focused and put together whole games and not lose points. But overall, I think the girls, from Thursday to today, looked good."
Sandhills jumped on the Hurricanes early, taking a 4-1 lead to start the match. Louisburg chipped away at the deficit, but the Flyers responded with scoring runs that included a combined 10-1 surge to pull ahead 23-7 before closing out the first set for a 1-0 lead.
The momentum carried into the second set as the Flyers wasted no time, racing out to a 15-3 advantage and holding the Hurricanes under 10 points to easily go up 2-0.
In the third and final set, the Hurricanes briefly turned the tide, taking their first lead of the match at 7-3. Sandhills mounted a comeback to tie it at 8-8 and then regained control, never trailing again as they fended off a late push for the win.
"The first part of preseason, you kind of get to know the person on your left and right," Riggan said. "So communication has been one of our main focuses this week. When you trust each other on the court, you can pretty much do anything and control the game. I think the girls are really buying into that."
Match Leaders vs. Louisburg:
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Brooke Emore: 5 kills, 11 digs, 4 service aces
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Katelyn Bunting: 7 kills, 1 dig
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Olivia Bowman, Reagan Smith, Taylor Miller: 3 kills each
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Others: Liz Bryson and Madison Scheffler added 2 kills apiece, while Reagan Malpass, Julia Porter, Neveah Ross, and Averi Cuddeback each chipped in 1 kill.
"I feel like everything kind of worked—we were just ready to play," Emore said. "We all grew close really fast, and that helps with our communication."
In their second match of the day, the Flyers faced USC Union and earned another sweep.
Set scores: 25-17, 25-21, 25-10.
Emore once again led the charge, finishing with 11 kills, 2 assists, and 5 digs.
With the two wins, Sandhills improves to 3-0 on the season. The Flyers now begin a five-match road trip, starting with Davidson-Davie Community College on Wednesday, before heading to the Owens Invitational in Ohio on August 29–30.
Z. Ciboth
