Murphy – The Lady Bulldogs played host to the Hayesville Yellow Jackets, falling in three straight sets on Sept. 23.
The Lady Bulldogs (7-7) scored the first point in the first set when Julia Dockery got the first kill, but Hayesville (10-4) answered quickly and, after trading scores, jumped out to a 6-3 lead. Hayesville went onto extend their lead to 15-5 lead and never trailed again in the set.
Murphy tried to mount a comeback but could get no closer than 10 points, as a stingy Hayesville defense held the Lady Dogs to only 12 points in the first set. They went on to win the first set 25-12.
Murphy jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second set and would hold a lead of 7-6, but that’s when the Lady Jackets went on a run, building an 11-8 lead. The Lady Dogs battled back to tie the score at 11 via some great saves by Carsyn Lovingood and front-line play by Cayla Geer and Dockery.
The lead then exchanged hands several times, Dockery keeping the Lady Dogs in the game with several kills, as the Lady Dogs built a 16-14 lead. The lead would not hold, as the Lady Jackets stormed back and took an 18-17 lead, only to see Murphy tie it back up at 18, before Hayesville won the second set 25-19.
Hayesville erased a 2-0 Murphy lead at the start of the third set to take a 7-2 lead. The Lady Dogs battled back to within one point, when Anna Brinke made a great save and Dockery followed up with another kill, to cut the Hayesville lead to 10-9.
The Lady Dogs took the lead at 12-11, but Hayesville instantly tied the score back up. The lead would change hands several more times, with Murphy gaining a lead only to see Hayesville come back to tie the score.
Murphy would lead 15-13, then Hayesville tied the score at 15 all. Murphy again took the lead at 16-15. The lead continued to rock back and forth until the score was tied at 19. That’s when Hayesville’s front line took over as they outscored the Lady Dogs 6-0 to take the set 25-19 and claim the match 3-0.
Dockery led the Murphy with 10 kills;, she also had two solo blocks, one assist and nine digs. Reagan Curtis had six kills, followed by Lovingood with five. Brinke had eight digs for the Lady Dogs.
Murphy had a game scheduled with the Lady Black Knights on Thursday, but the match was postponed due to the hurricane. As a result, the Lady Dogs will have three matches this week. They will play the game with Robbinsville before hosting Swain at home and then traveling to Andrews.
Those games will be paramount in determining the seeding in the Smoky Mountain Conference race. Swain and Robbinsville both come into this week with 2-3 records. If Murphy can win both of those matches and defeat Andrews in the third one, the Lady Dogs could drastically improve their fifth-place standing in the Smoky Mountain Conference.