Fluco volleyball team crushes Orange

In the first game of this match, the Flucos jumped to an early lead behind the serving of senior Tyler Haislip and senior Amanda Harris. The Flucos got two service points from each and were up 6-2 early. In the middle of the game, sophomore Christina Walker served four consecutive points to put the Flucos up 12-7. With the Flucos up 17-10, the Orange coach called a time-out to try to rally her squad. It did not work. With Harris serving again, the Flucos put the game away by running the score to a safe 20-10 advantage. At that point, Orange needed to score 15 points before the Flucos could score five. That is a very tall order and one rarely achieved. Senior Sophia Kershner had a powerful kill shot for the Flucos during the run to a 10-point lead. Kershner served out the end of the game for the Flucos, with junior Abby Sherman recording a nice kill on the final point.

In volleyball the second game of the match is often crucial as the outcome can put a team completely in the driver’s seat. However, if the team that lost the first game bounces back to win the second, it is often a sign that the match will be a long one. In this match, the Flucos made it clear in the second game that it would be a short night. Haislip took over the serve with the Flucos trailing 2-1. She served nine straight points to take the score to 10-2 in the Flucos’ favor. Junior Jilian Stutz had a powerful kill shot to record the 10th point. With the score 11-3, Harris took over serving for the Flucos and it was 22-3 before the Hornets scored another point. Harris had several aces in this run and Kershner had an impressive kill. The Flucos ended the game with a kill shot by Walker.

In the third game of the match, the Flucos continued to dominate. They led by scores of 8-4 and 14-8 and established their largest lead at 19-10.  The Hornets then ran off seven straight points to close the gap to two. Coach Harlowe-Garrett called a time-out to break the Hornets’ comeback momentum. Haislip scored a kill for the next point and Sherman served for a point to give the Flucos a four-point lead at 21-17.  A three- or four-point margin was maintained to the end, so that the final score of the third game was 25-21.

The Flucos recorded an impressive 18 aces in the match, with Kershner leading the way. They also had 27 kills with Harris leading in that category. Harris also had 11 assists while Sherman had nine.

The Flucos traveled to Monticello High on Sept. 29 and to Albemarle on Oct. 4. They return home to host the Charlottesville Black Knights on Oct. 6 and Louisa County on Oct. 11. Then it is back on the road for games at Western Albemarle on Oct. 13 and at Powhatan High on Oct. 18.
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