Andrews – Andrews volleyball matches have had a familiar pattern so far in 2021. The Lady Wildcats have dropped the first set in each match, usually in disappointing fashion. They then usually rally in the second set, which leads to a hard-earned win or a competitive loss.
Against Cherokee County foe Murphy on Sept. 14, Andrews finally ran into a team who operated at a much high level. The Lady Bulldogs had little trouble handling the Lady Wildcats, sweeping them in straight sets 25-8, 25-13, 25-13.
“Definitely a tough game for us,” Andrews head coach Shanna Mustin said. “We knew it would be.”
Murphy (7-0 overall, 4-0 Big Smoky Mountain Conference) is the best team Andrews (2-3, 1-3) had faced so far this season, and present a unique challenge because of their height. At 6 feet-1 inch tall, Torin Rogers towered over the Lady Wildcats front line, and they had no answer for her or junior outside hitter Olivia Payne. When Andrews was able to get some into its offense, they had to get it past libero Cailey Dockery, who Mustin said “doesn’t make a mistake.”
However, it all started with Murphy’s height advantage. That allowed the Lady Bulldogs to have a clear angle to hit and place the ball, with little resistance at the net.
“Just the sheer size difference, we had planned on working on blocking a whole lot this week,” Mustin said. “We knew if we couldn’t block then our defense would definitely not be in the correct position and even though we worked towards it we still were unable to slow down (Rogers) and (Payne). That was tough for us.”
Mustin tried to change her team’s warmup routine to see if they could stop starting slow, but it didn’t change much. The Lady Bulldogs were ready to play, scoring the first five points and jumping out to a 14-2 lead. Murphy was able to go to its bench in the first set and did the same in the second and third, when the Lady Bulldogs had commanding leads in both.
“I told them in the locker room after the game, every single person, not only in this game but they contribute in every game,” Lady Bulldogs head coach Jordan Lovingood said. “But tonight they got to do that on the floor.”
Andrews started to play better in the second and third set, but Murphy was too much. The Lady Wildcats were trailing 7-5 in the second set before the Lady Bulldogs scored nine straight points to take a commanding nine-point lead. Andrews struggled with serve-and-receive in that set, too, with Murphy recording eight service aces, including four from Payne in that 9-0 run. The Lady Bulldogs kept it up in the third set, jumping out to an 8-2 lead and were never seriously threatened.
“We know they’re going to hit hard, we know they’re going to make kills, but we can’t let their kill change our side of the court,” Mustin said. “As far as our attitude and our atmosphere on our team, tonight it we let that affect us.”