Seniors Lacey Suggs and Claire Campbell and junior Lexie Mendell sparked a 12-5 East Bladen rally that closed out a 3-0 victory on Senior Night at West Bladen Tuesday in Four County Conference volleyball action by set scores of 25-14, 25-19 and 28-26.
After dropping the first two sets, the Lady Knights had built a 21-16 lead in the third set, Campbell reeled off 6 straight service points with help from Suggs who hammered in 3 kills and saved the point at 21-21 with a diving dig.
The Campbell service run edged East Bladen in front 23-21, but Lady Knight junior Kathryn Schultz cracked a pair of service winners to vault West on top 24-23.
Senior Abby Ward’s service point put the Lady Eagles ahead 25-24, but West junior Morgan Schumacher’s block tied the game 25-25.
Suggs knocked in another kill, but Schumacher answered with a block for a 26-26 tie. Mendell put East ahead with a block then dotted the back line with a kill on match point.
Senior Miller Heustess posted a double-double for the Lady Eagles with 11 service points and 11 assists to go with an ace and 2 kills. Campbell finished with 10 service points, 3 kills and 3 assists.
Suggs just missed a double-double with 11 kills, 9 service points, an ace, a block and an assist. Mendell totaled 5 kills, 5 service points, 2 aces and a block.
Ward fired in 5 service points and an ace for East, and sophmore Hannah DeVane added 5 service points and 2 kills.
Junior Kassidy Anderson led the Lady Knights with 9 service points, 5 kills and a dig. Schumacher slammed in 8 kills, 3 blocks and 4 service points.
West senior Lorna Smith pounded in 8 kills, 6 service points and an ace. Junior Laikyn Pait followed with 3 service points and 2 kills. Junior Logan Autry added 2 kills and a service point, and junior Jenna Dove belted in one kill.
Kills by Mendell and DeVane helped Suggs begin the match with 5 straight service points. Another Mendell winner won the serve for Heustess who tallied 7 consecutive service points for a 13-1 East Bladen lead. Two kills by Campbell and one by Mendell aided the Heustess service run.
Two kills and a service point by Anderson, a Schumacher service point and a Smith kill rallied West to within 14-5. Campbell blistered in an ace and another service point, after a Suggs kill and a Mendell block to stretch the lead to 18-6.
A Schultz service point and two more from Smith brought West to within 19-11 on an Anderson kill.A Heustess service point and a Mendell kill made it 22-12, and DeVane served out the set with the help of a Mendell kill.
Kills by DeVane and Mendell highlighted a 4-0 Suggs service run that started Set 2. Kills by Smith and Schumacher won a pair of service points for Schutz and closed the gap to 4-3.Two Schumacher kills and a trio of Smith service points edged West Bladen ahead 7-6.
Back came East with an 11-2 spurt to take a 17-9 lead. Mendell drilled in 2 aces, 2 more service points and a kill; Suggs chipped in with a block, a kill and a tip; DeVane and Campbell tallied 2 service points each to cap the run.
A Schultz tip and a Smith kill made it 17-11, but Ward whistled in an ace and another service winner to up the count to 20-11.
Two kills and a service point by Smith and a Schumacher block cut the lead to 22-16. DeVane’s service point made it 24-16, before a pair of Pait service points narrowed the lead to 24-19. A Knight error accounted for set point.
A Schumacher kill and an Autry service point gave West a quick 2-0 lead in Set 3. A pair of Heustess service points put East up 3-2, before Pait’s kill evened the score 3-3.
Kills by Suggs and Mendell tied the game 5-5, but Anderson knocked in a kill, then delivered 5 straight service points for a 10-5 Lady Knight lead.
Schultz and Smith belted in kills to push the lead to 13-7, but two winners by Suggs and a Heustess kill won a pair of service points for Ward and trimmed the lead to 13-10.
A Suggs service point and a DeVane winner sliced the West lead to 15-13. A pair of Anderson service points raised the margin to 19-14.
Coach Jennifer Hair’s Lady Eagles have now won 8 of their last 9 games and complete regular season play with a 9-5 conference record and 12-8 overall mark. East Bladen will wait for the NCHSAA pairings later this week to find out where their play-off game will be Saturday.
West Bladen completes their season with a 7-13 record. Knight senior Lorna Smith was honored in pre-game ceremonies.
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