By Michael Lindsay
The Gordonsville Tigerette volleyball team finished off their season sweep of rival Smith County Wednesday afternoon as they swept the Lady Owls during an in-school match, 3-0.
“I think we played pretty good,” said Gordonsville head coach Brian Leslie. “We played really good in the back row then found whoever had the hot hand.”
Gordonsville won the sets by scores of 25-16, 25-20 and 25-20.
The Tigerettes jumped out to a double-digit lead in the opening set as a Emma Crawford ace made the score 18-8. Gordonsville finished off the first set with a Derionna Bell kill to take the frame 25-16.
“It’s huge, especially in a game like this,” said Leslie on winning the first set. “Our fans were loud and wanted something to cheer for. Anytime the momentum came our way, the crowd had a lot to do with it.”
The second set saw Smith County hold a 10-9 lead before the Tigerettes pushed ahead to take an 11-10 advantage. Gordonsville extended their lead to 18-13 via a Bell block.
Smith County made a late push in the second set as they closed Gordonsville’s lead to 22-20 before the Tigerettes scored 3 straight to win the second set 25-20.
Smith County again led early in the third 8-5 before Gordonsville stormed back to take a 15-14 lead.
Back-to-back kills by Bell gave Gordonsville a 19-15 lead before the Lady Owls pulled within one point at 21-20 via a Shelby Bamford kill.
Gordonsville rallied to score the set’s final 5 points as the Tigerettes won the third set 25-20 to sweep the match, 3-0.
“Carthage has a really good team and they have a lot of weapons,” said Leslie. “We wanted it in three sets; we didn’t want it to go four or five. We were able to refocus and have a next-point mentality.”
Up next, the Tigerettes are scheduled to play at Upperman on Thursday while Smith County travels to Eagleville.
