The Lady Bobcats hit the road to face the Lady Highlanders and took it to 5 sets until Blue Ridge Early College won 3-2. Both teams came out and delivered (stay with this); BREC took the first set, Highlands comes back to win the next 2, then BREC rallies and takes the fourth. The fifth set ended 15-12 with BREC taking the win.
From left at the net are BREC Mahalah Stewart and Gracie Watson moving to block a kill by Highlands Kedra McCall on Monday in Highlands.
BREC hitter Charlotte Sherrill said it was one of the most exciting games of her life.
“I think we did great,” said Sherrill. “They have really good outside hitters (Kedra McCall and Jordan Carrier) and Julia May (Julia May Schmitt) is a great blocker. They’re really good competition and we played through it as a team. It was awesome.”
From left are BREC Charlotte Sherrill going for the kill against Highlands Ava Schmitt and Anne Marie Moore.
BREC Coach Cindy Fowler said in her three years as a coach, the varsity volleyball team has not beaten Highlands and was proud of their performance. BREC Maddy Potts said she knew going into this Monday’s game, Highland was a good team and walking away with a win was going to be tough.
“Before the game I was nervous,” said Potts. “Highlands hits and covers really well, but overall we did great. We had good attitudes and we stayed positive.”
Highlands Jordan Carrier slams one down on Monday at home.
Highlands Coach Katy Postell said they knew Monday’s match was going to be a challenge and after BREC came back to tie it up 2-2 the Lady Highlanders stayed focused and played their game.
“I don’t think we had a negative mindset, I think they knew going into the game that it was going to be a tough game for them,” said Postell. “I never felt like my girls thought they had the game ‘in the books’ so to speak, they knew that they had to fight for every point that they received, which they did.”
From left are BREC Gracie Watson going for the kill with Highlands Julia May Schmitt going for the block .
BREC setter Chloe Fowler had her work cut out for her doing her part of the bump, set, spike routine.
“I just kept repeating ‘don’t mess up’ and had to keep my cool,” said Fowler. “It feels so good to win, we’ve been wanting this for over three years.”
BREC Chloe Fowler keeping her cool up against the net while setting it up against Highlands.
Throughout all 5 sets, BREC hitters Gracie Watson and Sherrill were dropping bombs on the Highlands side of the net forcing the Lady Highlanders to adjust accordingly.
“They have a couple of good hitters, we struggled at times against them, but we found our feet and started blocking them more,” said Postell. “They also had a couple of servers that gave us some trouble, but other than that it was a pretty evenly matched game.”
Highlands Tessa Wisniewski was busy Monday night setting for 5 games.
BREC next plays at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 12 away against Victory Christian (Sylva, N.C.).
Highlands next plays at 5 p.m. on Sept. 12 away against Nantahala.
Editor’s Note: Buying photos is simple. Email me at plateaudailynews@gmail.com and tell me what you want. It’s $10 a photo, you pay online, and then I send them to you; easy peasy.
BREC Katie Stewart dives for the ball on Monday against Highlands.
BREC Maddy Potts keeps the ball in play after a wild dig.
BREC Holly Foss goes for the spike against Highlands.
Highlands Jeslyn Head was a consistent threat from the service line.
Highlands Jordan Carrier goes for the kill against BREC Mahalah Stewart.
Article and Photos by Brian O’Shea
plateaudailynews@gmail.com
Follow us on Instagram: @plateaudailynews
Like us on Facebook HERE
Advertise click HERE
