Lady Cyclones keep rolling with a three-game sweep of Unicoi Co.
Published 12:01 am Thursday, August 29, 2019
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Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Kaitlin Bailey sends the ball down on the Lady Blue Devil side of the net with authority in the Lady Cyclones win.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Kaitlin Bailey (23) and Hannah Boster (25) team up to block an attempted return by Unicoi Co.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Morgan Smith sends the volleyball back from where it came in Tuesday's match against Unicoi County,
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Elizabethton's Mattie Davis (4) and Whitley Maupin (7) go up to tag-team a block on a Lady Blue Devil return in Tuesday's match at John Treadway Gym.
BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
Coming into the season, Elizabethton head coach Leslee Bradley was uncertain about some teams in the Three Rivers Conference especially a team like Unicoi County who has a new head coach this season.
Tuesday night inside John Treadway Gym, Bradley and the Lady Cyclones found that the Lady Blue Devils had definitely improved but the Lady Cyclones also continue to grow stronger from match to match as Elizabethton won in straight games 25-19, 25-23, and 25-16 to win the match over the visiting Lady Blue Devils.
Once again as has been the case all season to this point, the Lady Cyclone height at the net paid its dividends with several blocks leading to points for the orange and black on the night.
Senior Morgan Smith had another solid night as she collected seven kills to go along with seven defensive digs to pace the Lady Cyclones.
Deanna Hull was ultra-effective on the defensive side of the net as she led the team with 17 defensive digs in the three games.
Kallista DePrimo had the defensive effort of the night as she hustled to attempt to keep the ball alive and ended up sliding into the post that holds the net. She finished with three kills and six defensive digs.
“We scrimmaged them a little bit this summer and they have definitely improved since that point,” said Bradley in talking about the Lady Blue Devils improvement. “We had some players that were a little bit off on our side of the net and that didn’t help our cause.
“We just were able to use our deep roster which was helpful and they have a great hitter on the outside and they were having trouble getting the ball to her. When they do get it to her, she is good and is going to score points against you. There are just players out there like that.
“Fortunately we did enough on our side that they had trouble getting her the ball. There was a lot of good hustle on our side and they showed a lot of heart,” Bradley continued.
“They never say never on any ball. I appreciate how hard we are playing every point. I feel like we are definitely seeing things that we need to work on and we are working on those things to get better.”
With the win, the Lady Cyclones ran their overall record to 8-2 on the season.
