Andrews – Lady Wildcats head coach Shanna Mustin heard that Cherokee’s volleyball team was much improved from year’s past. The Lady Braves entered this season having not won a Big Smoky Mountain Conference game since 2012, and run a quick tempo game that can throw teams off if they aren’t used to it.
While Andrews struggled in the first set, they battled in the next three but it wasn’t enough, as the Lady Wildcats fell to Cherokee on Sept. 7 in four sets 14-25, 24-26, 25-22, 21-25.
“Honestly it’s the fastest tempo we’ve seen this season,” Mustin said. “They run those low passes, quick sets and our blockers were just behind, especially game one. After that, we kind of figured out the pace they were keeping and helped us get into defensive position sooner and be there. Our girls, they fought hard.”
Like all of Andrews’ four matches so far this season, it took the Lady Wildcats (2-2 overall, 1-2 conference) a set to get into the flow of the match. They have dropped the first set in each match, and against Cherokee (4-4, 1-1) it was no different. Andrews committed 10 errors in the first set and struggled in the serve-receive game as the Lady Braves had six aces.
“I think the big thing for us just getting warmed up and coming out with the mindset that the game is going,” Mustin said. “We’ve been slow starting all season long.”
Like its previous three matches, the Lady Wildcats were a different team in the second set, jumping out to an 8-1 lead, which included four services aces from Brooke Phillips and three kills from Rylie McDonald. Mustin liked her team’s aggressiveness, which at times has been lacking this year. With Andrews being a small team, it needs to make up for it by coming out swinging.
“That’s one of the things we’ve been working on,” Mustin said. “If you make a mistake, if you hit a ball out, yeah, take responsibility, but don’t back off.”
Though the Lady Wildcats continued to fight hard, they didn’t make quite enough plays to win the set. Cherokee gradually climbed its way back into the set by raising the level of play and taking advantage of Andrews’ mistakes. The Lady Wildcats committed 12 errors in the set, including back-to-back miscues in the final points.
The Lady Braves led 11-6 in the third set and looked to be ready for a sweep, but once again Andrews scratched and clawed to win the set and keep the match going. The Lady Wildcats scored the first four points in the fourth set, thanks to a solo block by Rylie McDonald and three straight aces by Kaylin Ellis, and looked ready to send the match to a fifth set.
But like the second set, Cherokee erased the deficit. After the Lady Braves led 13-12, they never trailed again.
Andrews struggled with the attack of freshman Alexis Davis and senior Alexis Foerst, as well as the tipped balls Cherokee could get over the Lady Wildcats’ front row. When the match was done, it was the Lady Braves parading joyfully off to the locker room with a hard-earned win.
Andrews played Cherokee County foe Murphy on Tuesday, which ended after this week’s edition of the Cherokee Scout went to press. The Lady Wildcats travel to Blue Ridge Early College on Thursday.