by Rusty Ellis
The Smith County Lady Owls are heading into district play on a positive note, as they swept Red Boiling Springs 3-0 on Monday evening in Carthage.
The first set was back-and-forth, as Smith took a four-point lead early at 10-6. From there, they limited RBS to just six more points in the set for a 25-12 win and 1-0 match lead.
The Lady Owls played one of their best sets of the season in the second, as a 12-6 early lead turned into a 25-6 set win.
Smith County closed it out with solid play in the third, as they finished off a 3-0 sweep of Red Boiling Springs with a 25-13 win in the final frame.
For head coach Krissa Hackett, it’s a dominant win, albeit a far from perfect one in her eyes.
“We could’ve played better, some of our serving was off,” Hackett said. “We had some young players step up and help with the serving…we were missing our starting right side, so I was pleased with how some of the girls stepped in and gave us a lift there. I’m pleased with the win and I’m ready to get district play started on Thursday.”
The second set was a near-flawless one for the Lady Owls, as they dominated from start-to-finish to put themselves in prime position for the sweep. As far as what went right in that set, Hackett says it all came down to her team playing loose.
“I think they just played relaxed,” Hackett said. “They were just having fun out there, and they played relaxed. Having our starting Libero back helped too.”
The team has yet to see it’s expected starting six take the court together, so with district play beginning with a road contest at Trousdale on Thursday, Hackett believes this team still has a higher gear it can reach.
“We’ve dealt with two injuries and we haven’t had our starting six yet,” Hackett said. “We’ve had players that have stepped up and played bigger roles than anticipated for us, they’ve done what’s had to be done for us to keep improving. Everyone knows their role on the team, and they’re executing their roles.”
For RBS, they’ll take on Clarkrange at home on Tuesday.
