Smoky Mountain's Leslie Mathis returns the
ball during a Sept. 16 loss to Enka. Playing on the road, the
Lady Mustangs dropped the first two games but fought back to
win the third and fourth. However, SM came up just short in
the deciding fifth game, and the Sugar Jets won it 19-17. -
Herald photo by Carey Phillips
For the third time in four volleyball matches,
Smoky Mountain lost the first two games then won the next two
only to lose in game five.
This time the defeat was especially painful as the fifth game
went down to the wire before home-standing Enka emerged with
a 25-21, 25-18, 24-26, 21-25, 19-17 Mountain Athletic Conference
victory on Sept. 16.
"We just keep digging holes for ourselves," Coach
Cindi Simmons said. "We never quit. We played hard, not
only in games three and four, but also after we fell behind
in game five."
The Sugar Jets took leads of 10-4 and 21-12 in game one. The
Lady Mustangs rallied within 21-17 on four points from Danielle
Bowers and Kristine Webb's block but could pull no closer.
Game two was close all the way until Enka scored the final six
points.
SM went up 7-2 in game three on three points by Bowers and a
Leslie Mathis kill. The Lady Mustangs led 16-12 as Ryan Cook
served three points, including an ace. Bowers added three points,
including two aces, for a 21-17 edge. The Sugar Jets pulled
into a tie, but Natalie Cantler served the clinching point.
Cook served the first four points, including an ace, in the
fourth game. Bonnie Claxton followed with three points, including
an ace, making it 8-2. Enka fought back to go up 12-11, but
Claxton ran off six points, including two aces, putting SM back
in front 20-14. Jessie Woodard served the final point to even
the match.
The Sugar Jets took an early lead in game five and stayed in
front until Claxton served five points and Bowers had two kills
giving the Lady Mustangs a 13-12 advantage. They twice served
for the match but failed to cash in with Enka winning on a side
out.
Cook handed out 17 assists, and Bowers had nine kills.
Claxton was perfect in 26 serves and had 16 points. Cook finished
with 13 points. Danielle Bowers added 12 points and didn't miss
in 23 serves. Laura Bowers was perfect in 13 serves. Team serving
was 91.7 percent.
Enka won the JV match 25-14 as SM missed eight serves. Sarah
Haggard had five assists while Jennifer Webb put down four kills.
"We're facing really good teams," Coach Amanda Queen
said. "We're going to have to keep working hard to get
where we need to be."
