Morristown East defeats Greeneville, Grainger to open volleyball season

B

GREENEVILLE—Morristown East got its volleyball season off to a great start by racking up a pair of victories Monday night at Hal Henard Gym in a quad match.

The Lady Hurricanes opened with a 2-0 victory over Grainger County and then came back to topple host Greeneville, 2-1, in their second match of the night.

Tennessee High also defeated both of those teams to round out the opening night action.

East ripped the Lady Grizzlies, 25-9, in game one but had to battle for a 28-26 triumph in the second game. The Lady ‘Canes downed Greeneville, 25-20, before the Lady Devils claimed a 25-16 win to even the match.

First-year coach Courtney Dotson’s club then won the deciding game, 25-19.

“I was really proud of the way we came out and played well in the first set of both matches,” said Dotson. “These were wins over a couple of good volleyball teams.”

Dotson added, “But we need to work on keeping our intensity after we get out in front. But I was pleased with the way we responded after we lost the second set to Greeneville.

“It’s really nice that we have a lot of girls who are very versatile and that allows us to change our rotation and helps us a lot,” the coach said. “I thought everybody contributed to the wins tonight.”

Reagan Forester led the Lady ‘Canes with 14 kills on the night while her sister Riley added 11. Hannah Hall chipped in 10 kills with Hailey Hall adding eight and serving three aces.

Lilabeth Jordan chipped in two aces with Harmony Sullivan, Emma Swint and Hannah Hall all having one. Mackenzie Jarnigan and Reagan Forester had two blocks each.

In the opening win over Grainger County, the match was tied at one, two and thee before the Lady Hurricanes reeled off eight consecutive points with Swint serving. Both Hall sisters had two kills in the spurt.

It was 12-5 when East took total control with a 7-1 run sparked by a pair of kills from Reagan Forester and an ace by Hailey Hall.

East scored the final four points to close out the set.

After East jumped in front 10-6, the Lady Grizzlies rallied to take a 14-13 edge in the second set as Maddie Hurst led the way. Hurst finished the match with eight kills.

It was tied at 24 and 25 before Grainger got to set point on a Hurst kill that made it 26-25.

However, a hitting error tied the score again before Hannah Hall served an ace and Hailey Hall put down a kill to end the match.

Set one against the Lady Greene Devils saw East score four straight points to wipe out an 11-10 deficit and then use a 6-1 run to grab a 20-13 lead.

Greeneville chipped away at the lead and got it down to four before Harmony Sullivan’s kill closed the set.

The Lady Devils scored the first three points in the second set and East never caught up. East closed a seven-point deficit down to 19-15 but Kyla Jobe and Bella Devoti had kills as the home team scored six of the final seven points.

Greeneville led by as many as three early in the final set before Hailey Hall and Reagan Forester had kills and Jordan served back-to-back aces to give the Lady ‘Canes a 10-6 lead.

Another four-point run capped by a Forester kill put East up by 15-9 and the Lady ‘Canes stretched the margin to 23-14 before the home team rallied within 24-19 but Forester had a kill to end the match.

Monday’s Lakeway Area Volleyball Results

Morristown West over William Blount, 2-0 (25-19, 25-18)

Heritage over Morristown West, 2-0 (27-25, 25-13)

Lakeway Christian over William Blount, 2-0 (25-23, 25-18)

Lakeway Christian over Heritage, 2-1 (21-25, 25-18, 25-19)

posteditor
posteditor
Articles: 27509