By Duncan Nixon
Correspondent
Two volleyball teams coming in with winning records squared off on Fluvanna’s Munro Rateau Court on Tuesday, Sept. 26. When the action was over, the Flucos were victorious three games to one, but two of the wins came in overtime. Fluvanna won the first and fourth games 26-24. Volleyball is played to 25, but you must win by two. The Flucos won the second game easily, scoring a 25-17 win. The third game went to the Lions, and it too was in overtime, 27-25.
In the first game, the Flucos ran to an early 9-6 lead, but the Lions fought back to tie the score at 12-12. From that point on neither team led by more than two points. After a tie at 22-22, the Flucos edged into the lead 24-22, and the Lions’ coach called a time-out. The Lions scored twice to tie the score at 24-24. Fluco Coach Christi Harlow-Garrett then called her own time-out. The Flucos then won a point on the Lions’ serve and with senior Isabelle Garrett serving, the Flucos won the game at the net with a successful block for a 26-24 win.
In the second game, the Flucos trailed in mid-game 14-15. However, the Flucos then took over the play and with sophomore Molly McCall firing vicious kill shots and junior Jillian Davis serving effectively, the Fluco outscored the Lions 11-2 to end the game with a safe 8-point margin.
The third game of the match was even throughout. With the Flucos trailing 16-19 Harlow-Garrett called a time-out. The Flucos scored three points to knot the score. Successful blocks at the net by McCall and senior Brenna Rea resulted in a 21-21 tie. An ace serve by Rea tied the score again at 23-23. A service ace by junior Olivia Martin gave the Flucos a 25-24 lead, but the Lions scored three points in a row for their only win of the night.
Volleyball is best three out of five. If the teams split the first four games, a very tense game to fifteen decides the match. The Flucos clearly did not want to go to five games. Yet, they trailed almost all the way in game four. They were behind 5-8 and 10-15. They still trailed late in the match at 17-20. But, Garrett had a kill shot and Rea served for two points, the second serve was an ace. The Lions edged to a 21-23 lead, Fluco senior Emma Abel scored with a kill shot. McCall had two key kill shots and the Flucos won 26-24 when a Lion serve was no good.
After the game, Harlow-Garrett noted that the win was a “real team effort.” She felt that her team really came together. The statistics bear this out. Rea had six aces and six blocks, Garrett had four aces, 12 kills and 18 digs, Davis had 5 aces and 26 digs, McCall had 15 kills and three blocks, and Abel had 5 kills and two blocks.
The volleyball team hosted Goochland County on Sept. 28, and traveled to Monticello High and Wilson Memorial on Oct. 3 and 4. They play a third day in a row on Oct. 5 when they host Charlottesville. On Oct. 10 and 12 they will play at Albemarle and Western Albemarle, before returning home to host Orange County on Oct. 17.
