Murphy – The Lady Bulldogs split with their two games this past week, with Swain spoiled Murphy’s Senior Night before Murphy went on the road to defeat Andrews.
Julia Dockery got the Lady Dogs (8-8) on the board with the first kill of the night on Tuesday, Oct. 1 Dockery added another kill and a block to give the Lady Dogs a 4-1 lead.
Swain (14-4) stormed back and closed the lead to 5-4. The Lady Bulldogs fought back to build an 8-4 lead, before Swain stormed back to once again close the lead to 12-11.
The Lady Maroon Devils went on to tie the score at 14 all. Dockery and Carsyn Lovingood gave Murphy the lead once more as they held an 18-16 lead.
Cayla Geer extended Murphy’s lead with a kill, to give Murphy a 19-16 lead, and it appeared Murphy was well on their way to taking the first set, but it was not to be. Swain’s Kennedy Anthony led the Lady Devils to build a 21-19 lead, as she registered two kills, before Dockery registered a kill to tie the score at 21. Swain outscored Murphy 4-2 to win the first set 25-22.
Gracie Sutton put the Lady Devils ahead in the second set with a kill to give Swain a 3-2 lead. She then held service for five more points as Swain built an 8-2 lead.
Sutton took over the set, whether she was blocking Murphy kills from her middle blocker position or getting kills of her own and Swain built a 20-9 lead. Swain went on to take the second set 25-14.
Murphy would jump out to a 4-1 lead behind great net play by Dockery and Lovingood, but Swain would fight back to tie the score a 6-6. The lead would change hands twice before Murphy built a 11-8 lead.
The Lady Devils would outscore Murphy 5-0 to take a 13-11 lead. Wyndsor Caldwell would tie the score at 16 all with a block at the net, as The Lady Bulldogs refused to go quietly.
Geer put the Lady Dogs ahead 17-16, then Murphy built a 22-17 lead. Swain fought back and tied the score at 23. Murphy actually took a 24-23 lead but Swain would overtake the Lady Dogs to lead 25-24 before getting tied at 25.
Sutton put Swain up 26-25 but had a serve error to tie the score at 26. Swain would outscore the Lady Dogs 3-0 to take the set 29-27.
The Lady Dogs would travel to Andrews, where they got back in the win column, beating the Lady Wildcats 3-2 on Thursday, Oct. 3
Andrews (5-10) would jump out to a 3-2 lead before Murphy stormed back to take a 4-3 lead. Lovingood scored two points to tie the score at 7.
Kaiya Ellis of Andrews and Dockery had battles at the net all night long, while Kylie Donaldson also had several kills for the Lady Wildcats. The lead would rock back and forth in the first set, but Murphy would pull away to take the first set 25-21.
Murphy would have to go into overtime in the second set as they won it 27-25, but Andrews would storm back to win the next two sets 28-26 and 27-25. Murphy would finally close out the match with a 15-13 win in the fifth set.
Dockery and Lovingood led the Lady Dogs with seven kills apiece. Reagan Curtis and Geer had four each. Lovingood led the team in assists with 17 and Dockery had 10 on the night.
Beth Shook and Donaldson led Andrews in the kills column.
Murphy coach Nicole Edwards talked about getting to play this week and the win at Andrews.
“It’s been such a crazy week with everything going on. We, honestly, we’re just thankful to play. Thankful to be able to put the uniforms on and step in our gym. Wins and loses are big but not as important as having each other, our families and our Bulldog family all safe and well,” she said.
“I am so proud of the girls for how hard they played at Andrews. They didn’t give up and showed a side I’ve been waiting to see.”
The Lady Wildcats were also in action against Swain last week, losing 3-0 to the Lady Maroon Devils on Oct. 2.
Swain got out to an early lead and never looked back as they won the first and closest set 25-16. Swain then went on to win the second set 25-10, then closed out the match in the third set winning 25-9.
On Saturday, the Lady Wildcats headed to Robbinsville (14-6) in a rescheduled match. Robbinsville won the first set 25-19. Then in the second and closest set of the match, Robbinsville slimly won 25-22. They closed it out in the third set with a 25-11 win to take the match 3-0.
Murphy will finish out their regular season by heading to Hayesville on Thursday. Andrews will also finish out their regular season Thursday with a trip to Swain County. Both teams will compete in the SMC tournament next week.