Murphy – It was a good week for the Lady Bulldogs, who knocked off both Tallulah Falls, 3-1, and Franklin, 3-0, to improve to 3-0 this season.
Murphy was also supposed to play Hiwassee Dam on Thursday, but did not due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases at the school. According to head coach Jordan Lovingood, there have been no positive cases on the team, but the game was postponed as a precaution.
Against the Lady Indians (4-4 overall), the Lady Bulldogs dropped the first set 25-18 before winning the last three 27-25, 25-17 and 25-22 to take the match.
“I think, really and truly, that was a test for us,” Lovingood said. “It’s a non-conference game for us, but they’re a great team. To be honest, it was just interesting to see how the girls responded to losing the first game. As the results showed, they overcame the adversity and got the job done.”
Following a tough first set in which Tallulah Falls was the better team from start to finish, Murphy battled to win the second set, then controlled the third set before having one final push to win the match. To Lovingood it came down to better communication on the court.
“We’re not the best communicators,” Lovingood said. “But as the match progressed against Tallulah Falls we saw that as we communicated good things happen.”
The next day. Murphy headed to Franklin for its first road match of the season. The gym was “packed,” according to Lovingood, and the Lady Bulldogs also had to adjust to playing in an air-conditioned gym for the first time this year. Murphy definitely passed the test, sweeping the Panthers (28-26, 25-13, 25-17).
“The girls they came out, they just played exceptionally well, they played together,” Lovingood said. “It was honestly so fun to watch. It was so fun to watch them do what they do and win.”
After a back-and-forth first set, the Lady Bulldogs went to another level in the second and third set, beating Franklin (1-2) going away.
“I would really say that’s the best I’ve seen them play so far,” Lovingood said. “They were doing things we don’t normally do in a game-to-game situation. As you can tell, I’ve said it before, they put in so much work over the summer. To see it show and see it pay off, it’s just a great feeling to watch them enjoy that win with each other.”
As the season goes on, Murphy is continuing to try improve its passing and serve-receive, as it’s already a strong hitting team.
“That’s we work on every day in practice,” Lovingood said. “We work on passing, we work on serve-receive, because if they can do those two things we can put the ball game away.”
The Lady Bulldogs played at Cherokee on Tuesday, which ended after this week’s edition of the Cherokee Scout went to press. They have a home match against Hayesville this Thursday.