Hiwassee Dam – Andrews volleyball head coach Shanna Mustin knows her team isn’t perfect. The Wildcats don’t have the height they’ve had in past seasons, and some young players still need to build confidence.
But she also knows her team is a hard-working bunch. That showed in the Wildcats season-opening win over Hiwassee Dam on Aug. 24.
After getting crushed in the first set, Andrews responded to knock off the Eagles in five sets – 10-25, 25-20, 17-25, 25-21, 15-11 – handing Hiwassee Dam its first loss of the season.
“I’ve said all practice long if you can win games strictly off of hard work and attitude, we would win every game,” Mustin said. “Because I don’t think anybody will outwork the girls that I have.”
Though that hard work and never-quit attitude helped Andrews win the match, it didn’t show up early on. In the Wildcats committed 10 errors in their first set of the season, which matched the number of points they scored. Five were net violations and one was a double-contact on a set, which are avoidable mistakes. After the set, Mustin made her team run from the net to the end line and back.
“That’s just a, ‘Hey, wake up’ call,” Mustin said. “Let’s check ourselves, we’re in a volleyball game.”
The wake-up call worked in the second set, as Andrews jumped out to a 6-1 lead. Hiwassee Dam worked its way back in the match and eventually led 12-11, but the Lady Wildcats went on a 10-1 run to take a commanding 22-13 lead. The Lady Eagles came back with six straight points of their own, but Andrews held strong and finished off the set 25-20.
Hiwassee Dam scored the first three points of the third set, and never trailed, winning 25-17 as the Lady Wildcats never went got into a groove. Andrews found itself down 12-7 in the fourth set after an early back and forth, but ripped off five points to tie the fourth set. Neither team led by more than two points until the Lady Wildcats ripped off three straight to take the fourth set, 25-21.
Andrews confidence grew throughout the set, especially its seniors. Senior setter Kaylin Ellis set the tone by making an impact all around the court, and by the end of the fourth set, you could start to see senior hitters Mackenzie Stalcup and Brooke Phillips have more confident and let their emotions out.
That carried into the fifth set, where the Lady Wildcats trailed 2-1 before scoring four straight points and never trailing again. By the time the a Hiwassee Dam attack went out of bounds for the 15th and final point in the decisive fifth set, Andrews players on the court and bench erupted in jubilation, reveling in a hard-earned victory.
“I know my team, and I know my teammates,” Ellis said. “And I know that we just need to keep going, keep pushing and eventually we’ll pull it off.”
Andrews returned to the court Monday against Hayesville, which ended after this week’s edition of the Cherokee Scout went to press. The Lady Wildcats travel to Swain County this Thursday.