By Duncan Nixon
Correspondent
In its season opener on Aug. 28, the Fluco volleyball team hosted the Bald Eagles from Mills E. Godwin High in Richmond. Girls volleyball in Virginia is played best three games out of five with the first four games to 25 points, with a win by two. If the teams split the first four games a deciding fifth game is played to 15 points, win by two. The Bald Eagles came nowhere near forcing a fifth game.
The Flucos jumped to a commanding 10-3 lead early in the opening game. Sophomore Charlotte Gifford served eight consecutive points including three aces. Junior Carson Johnston had one kill shot, senior Molly McCall had two kill shots . Throughout the night this was a pattern. McCall contributed numerous kill shots and a variety of Flucos recorded service aces. The Flucos gradually built their lead from seven points to ten and scored an easy 25-15 win.
The second game started much like the first. The Flucos were leading 10-2 when the Bald Eagles’ coach called a time out. The time out did not help. The Flucos steadily increased their lead as Johnston, McCall and junior Allaysa Lewis dominated at the net. The 25th point for the Flucos came on a service ace by sophomore Taylor Stringer. The final score was 25-8.
In the third game, the Flucos took an early lead again, jumping to 9-2 advantage before Mills Godwin scored their third point. From that point on, it was kill shots and a clever dink by McCall and strong serves by Lewis and senior Kenya Wrigley. Wrigley played as the Flucos Libero. McCall scored the winning 25th shot with a with a fierce kill shot. The final score was 25-11. In all three games the Flucos were totally dominate, outscoring their opponents by 75-34. In volleyball once a team has a lead of more than five points the outcome is normally not in doubt. The Flucos were ahead by five or more very early in all three games.
The Flucos hosted the multiple team Farrugio tournament on August 30. After that, they will begin a long grueling series of individual match-ups starting with a road trip to Mills Godwin. There are then 16 individual match-up on the schedule mostly against Jefferson District opponents. There are usually two or three matches a week. The season ends on Oct.23 at Ablemarle High. District play-offs follow on Oct. 28 and 30.
