Columbus High School volleyball coach Jessica Davis had a simple explanation after the Falcons, who fell behind 15-5 right out of the gate, rebounded to post a four-set victory Monday at West Lowndes.
“My captain stepped up,” she said. “My libero played her role, and my captain played her role.”
There was a bit more to it than that, but there was no doubt that Falcons captain Makayla Rieves and libero Christina Fulton stepped up when they were needed, and the result was a 24-26, 25-18, 25-12, 25-22 victory over the Panthers in a very noisy West Lowndes gym.
Columbus took control midway through the second set. After a net violation pulled West Lowndes within 15-14, the Falcons went on a roll, scoring 35 of the next 51 points.
“We had to get our energy back in the game,” Rieves said. “We came out and played hard that second set. We knew we had to win, because we couldn’t go home with a loss.”
The interesting thing about the match is that while the Falcons were finding themselves, the Panthers appeared to be getting lost. After looking so smooth in taking that early lead, the improvement in the Falcons’ game seemed to unsettle the Panthers, who three times during a 13-point stretch bridging the second and third sets watched as the ball fell between them.
“We weren’t working as a team, not enough communication,” West Lowndes coach Ashley Clark said. “The girls pretty much put their heads down.”
Puzzling for the Panthers (4-6) is that they had been on a bit of a roll, winning three of their past four matches, including their first region match against Ethel. But the third-year coach said there was no secret to those wins.
“Staying positive and playing as a team,” Clark said. “When one messed up, the next one cheered her on, and today we didn’t do that.”
The Falcons assumed control early in the third set. With the Falcons trailing 5-2, Rieves took the ball and served seven consecutive points, two on consecutive kills by Johnasia O’Neal. Five service points in a row from O’Neal moments later gave the Falcons a 16-7 lead, and the Panthers never got closer than eight points the rest of the set.
But the fourth set was another matter. The Panthers had a slight lead most of the way, highlighted by an 9-2 run that turned a 14-11 deficit into a 20-16 lead.
But, still clinging to a 4-point edge at 22-18, a service error put the ball back into Rieves’ hands, with the same result. Three consecutive serves could not be returned, leading to a West Lowndes timeout at 22-22. The next service return went into the bleachers, and after a failed dig brought up match point, Rieves again sent an unreturnable serve into the Panthers’ back line.
“I’ve been working on my serve, trying to serve harder, stay to the back row, because it would be harder for them,” Rieves said. “It’s always been (a strength), but it got better this year because I got stronger, so it’s been working more.”
Making returning Rieves’ serves a bit tougher was the noise level in the West Lowndes gym. Falcons junior varsity players and fans were into the match from the beginning, and the two sides used the acoustics in the building to create a near-constant soundtrack that could have been a factor, especially as the Falcons gained the momentum.
“It could have been,” Clark said. “Being at home playing in front of your family, there’s so much pressure on them. They play better in away games.”
It certainly didn’t look that way early on, as West Lowndes took control early. The Panthers scored six of the first seven points of the match and built that 10-point lead largely on unreturned serves, and they held a comfortable lead at 21-12.
But a Rieves kill gave the ball to Measia Holmes, who served six consecutive points — four unreturned serves and a kill each by Rieves and O’Neal — to narrow the lead to two. A Rieves ace and back-to-back passing areas tied the set at 24-24, but a weak service error and an unreturned serve helped the Panthers hang on.
But from there it was all Falcons, as Columbus (3-7) won for the second time in three matches after an 0-4 start.
“I feel like we’re on a roll because we’ve been doing better, we’ve been improving every game and working hard and communicating more and working more as a team to win,” Rieves said.
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Softball
Washington 9, Starkville Academy 3: Browning Hughes and Arden Parker drove in runs on ground balls during the sixth inning, but four Starkville Academy errors led to 6 unearned runs in a home loss.
Sarah Sellers put the Vols on the board during the third inning, moving to third on a passed ball and stealing home after the first of her two doubles.
The Volunteers lost for the fifth consecutive game, falling to 9-8.
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