The Lady Highlanders girls volley teams both lost to Smokey Mountain on Sept. 5. Varsity lost 3 sets to 0 and junior varsity lost 2 sets to 0.
Varsity
“Smoky has several girls over six feet tall, so they were super aggressive the net,” said Head Coach Katy Postell. “We played kind of back on our heels waiting to see what happened instead of being on the attack.”
Kedra McCall blocks a spike from Smokey Mountain Sept. 5.
Postell added that the match was close at the beginning, but got away from the girls as the night wore on.
“The first varsity set we lost 26-24 and then couldn’t ever get back into it,” said Postell.
On the plus-side, hitter Kedra McCall is back on the court after recovering from an ankle injury and her replacement Baily Schmitt once again shifted gears to assume a new role.
“Kedra was back and played really solid,” said Postell. “She was still a little gun shy at times but played hard as always. Bailey Schmitt still did great in the front row with some big blocks and kills early in the game.”
Junior Varsity
Despite JV losing 2-0 in sets, Postell said she was proud the girls played their best.
“They played hard, we were missing our second setter and the girls weren’t sure how to help pick up an errant pass,” said Postell.
She added that being down a setter has put pressure on the rest of the team.
“We were outplayed because we had girls having to play different positions with our setter being out,” said Postell. “They served really well and we struggled to return it.”
Postell said everyone played their best but was impressed with a couple JV players who stepped up.
“Tessa Wisniewski played great having to play a 5-1 and Marley Ubertino played all the way around and did an amazing job for JV,” she said.
Highlands plays away at Blue Ridge Early College at 6 p.m. on Sept. 10. The Lady Highlanders have been working on several things to prepare for the game.
“We have been preparing by facing our weaknesses and trying to work through some of the issues with coverage and defense on both teams,” said Postell.
JV plays Cherokee at 5 p.m. at home Thursday, Sept. 13.
Article by Brian O’Shea
All photos submitted
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