By Duncan Nixon
Correspondent
In a high school volleyball match the first team to win three games claims victory. On Tuesday, Oct. 1, the Fluvanna volleyball squad hosted the Monticello Mustangs. Three of the four games in this match were decided by a mere two points.
In the first game, the Flying Fluco squad got off to a 3-0 lead behind the serve of freshman Faith Shields. Monticello bounced back with three straight points and neither team managed to lead by more than three points the entire game. The Mustangs had several three-point leads in the middle of the game but the Flucos battled back each time. A service ace by Fluco senior libero Evynne Stafford tied the score at 16-16.
As the first game progressed, Monticello managed to move ahead and stay ahead by a slim margin, with three-point leads at 19-22 and 20-23. The Flucos called time-out when the score went to 20-23. With Shields serving again, the Flucos tied the score at 23-23. However, the Mustangs put the game away by scoring the next two points for a 25-23 win.
In the second game, the Flucos dominated, winning 25-11, to tie the match at one game each. The Fluco net play was too much for the Mustangs as senior McKensie Moore and sophomore Khania Brassfield started recording multiple kill shots. With Stafford serving, the Flucos took a commanding lead moving from 7-4 to 11-4. A seven-point lead is very hard to overcome in women’s volleyball, and the Flucos coasted to the 14-point win.
The third game was much like the first, neither team could break into a significant lead and the score seesawed back and forth. The Mustangs rebounded with some good net play of its own, after looking a little shocked in game two, and they maintained a slim lead most of the way. With the Flucos down by three at 18-21, Brassfield recorded a kill shot for a 19-21 score. With Shields serving the Flucos made it 20-21. Monticello scored two in a row for a 20-23 lead and it looked like the Flucos were in trouble.
Fluco coach Christi Harlowe-Garrett called a time-out. The Flucos scored on Monticello’s serve and then with Moore serving they scored again on another Brassfield kill shot. The Flucos won a third point in a row for a 23-23 tie. The Mustangs won the next point and needed only one more to win the game and go up two games to one, but they hit the ball deep for a 24-24 tie. With Stafford serving the Mustangs made an error and led the ball hit the floor. Now the Flucos only needed one point to win. The Mustangs hit a wicked diagonal kill shot but it was just out. The Flucos took game three, 26-24.
Game four was deja vou all over again. Although the Flucos jumped into an early 7-2 lead, the Mustangs fought back with five straight points for a 7-7 tie. From that point on, no one led by more than two points. The score was tied at 14-14, 17-17 and 21-21. The Mustangs recorded two straight points for a 21-23 lead. As in game three, Harlowe-Garrett called time-out. After the time-out a Mustang shot was long and with Shields serving, Brassfield recorded a kill shot that tied it up at 23-23. Moore then tapped a shot into an empty space in the Mustangs defense for a 24-23 lead. The Mustangs took the next point and, like game three, the score was now 24-24, in a game to 25, win by two. Moore was too much for the Mustangs in the end. She recorded a kill shot to make in 25-24, and then serve an ace for a 26-24 win.
The Fluco offensive scoring in this game was amazingly well distributed. Junior Molli White recorded 12 kills, Moore had 10, Brassford and junior Lindsey Ward had nine kills. Shields who seemed to be everywhere she should be all night recorded an impressive 39 assists and libero Stafford was also impressive in digging out the Mustang kill attempts.
On Oct. 8, the Fluco volleyball squad was at Charlottesville. On Oct.10 they play at Western Albemarle. On Oct. 15 and 17 they will host Albemarle and Louisa County.
