Murphy picks up win over Blue Ridge Early College before facing Cherokee
The Hiwassee Dam and Murphy varsity volleyball teams kicked off their week with an in-county rivalry match.
The Lady Eagles (4-10) came out on fire in the first set as they jumped out to a 4-0 lead and never trailed as they went on to win the set 25-14. Murphy (4-5) fought back and win the next two sets.
Murphy jumped out to a 4-1 lead, but the Lady Eagles stormed back to close the lead the one at 4-3. Murphy built their lead back to 7-3 behind Jenna Cook’s serves and great front-line play by the Lady Bulldogs.
They would hold a three-point advantage until Hiwassee Dam closed the gap and tied the match up at 11 apiece. Olivia McNabb led the Lady Eagles’ charge with her net play as they built a 13-11 lead midway through the set.
Murphy came back to tie the set at 13 all. Murphy would go on to build a five-point lead and hung on to take the set 25-19.
Hiwassee Dam jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the third set and would build a 10-5 lead. Murphy would storm back and overtook the Lady Eagles at 14-13. Cayla Geer and Julia Dockery led the Murphy charge that got the Lady Dogs back in the game.
The lead changed hands several times. Murphy would outscore the Lady Eagles 7-3 to take the set 25-21 and a 2-1 lead going into the fourth set.
McNabb scored five points to give the Lady Eagles an early 5-1 lead. Murphy would storm back to close the lead to 5-4.
The Lady Eagles would build a lead and Murphy would close the lead and finally tied the set up at 10-10. Brinkley Payne led the Lady Eagles’ charge to retake the lead, then McNabb moved back to the front line to finish the deal as Hiwassee Dam built a 18-12 advantage. The Lady Eagles would never trail again as they went on to win the set 24-14 to tie match at two apiece.
The Lady Eagles jumped out to a 10-1 lead as they became very stingy on the front line. McNabb led the way with several kills and digs. Gracie Rhodes and Brooklyn Orton helped on the Lady Eagles’ front line play, as they both set McNabb up for the kills and had a few of their own.
It seemed like the Lady Eagles were in a zone for the rest of the set. Even when Murphy would get the serve, Hiwassee Dam found a way to break it after one serve. Murphy could get no closer than nine as the Lady Eagles took the fifth set 15-5 and won the match 3-2.
Eli Jones Night
Monday’s game was Eli Jones Night, where they honored the late Hiwassee Dam student who passed away last year.
Speaking on honoring Jones at the match, Hiwassee Dam athletic director David Payne said, “That family has had a tough fight, and to be able to come in on an emotional night and be able to get a win for the girls and for Eli’s family was special. You don’t always get to do that when you have a memorial night, so to be able to top it off with a win was good for our whole community.”
The next day, the Lady Eagles hosted the top team in the Big Smoky Mountain Conference, the Cherokee Lady Braves (14-1).
Cherokee got off to a quick start and never looked back. When Hiwassee Dam called their first timeout of the first set, they trailed 11-4. After the timeout, the Lady Eagles scored points to stay in the set, but Cherokee was ultimately in control. The Lady Braves went on to win the firsts set 25-11.
More of the same in the second and third sets as Cherokee won those 25-13 and 25-5, respectively. The Lady Eagles played well, but could not keep up with the size and strength of the No. 1 team in 1A West and No. 41 ranked team in the state.
The Lady Bulldogs
Murphy hit the road Sept. 17 and got a 3-0 win over Blue Ridge Early College. The Lady Dogs made quick work of the first two sets, winning them 25-14 and 25-16, respectively. The third set was closer, but the Lady Dogs won 25-21 to close out the match.
The Lady Braves’ only loss came to 2A Brevard High School and they kept it that way as they took on Murphy on Thursday. They took little time in showing why they held that ranking. They jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the first set and never trailed. They went on to outscore the Lady Bulldogs 14-8 to take the first set 25-10.
Murphy would jump out to a 2-0 lead in the second set. Regan Curtis would get a kill and Cherokee was unable to return a volley. The Lady Braves would tie it up a 3-3. Murphy refused to go away quietly as the would regain the lead a 5-4. The lead would change hands several times with Murphy holding a 8-6 lead at one point.
Cherokee’s Joscelyn Stamper took over the middle blocker position and was deadly for the Lady Dogs. Murphy would keep the set close, as they trailed by only one point through the midway point of the set, but Cherokee would pull away to take the second set 25-15.
Stamper opened the with the serve on the third set Cherokee would build a 4-1 lead. Murphy stormed back to close the lead to one point at 4-3 and would tie the score at five apiece. Cherokee would build a three-point lead and the Lady Bulldogs could get no closer than two. Cherokee went on to win the set 25-18 and take the match 3-0.
The Lady Eagles
Also on Thursday, the Lady Eagles hosted Union County, Ga., for the second time this season, avenging an earlier loss with a 3-2 win.
The Lady Eagles won the first two sets 25-18 and 25-20, then dropped the next two sets to force a fifth set. For the second time this season, the Lady Eagles and Lady Panthers went to five sets, but this time the Lady Eagles prevailed, winning 15-12 to win the match.
Murphy will host Robbinsville at 6 p.m. Thursday to close out their week. The Lady Bulldogs will host Swain County at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
On Thursday, the Lady Eagles will head to Topton to take on conference opponent’s Nantahala at 5 p.m., then on Monday will host Copper Basin, Tenn., at 6 p.m. They will host Blue Ridge Early College at 6 p.m. Tuesday as the regular season winds down, wrapping up in two weeks.