Farragut takes clean sweep
Admirals 3
Bulldogs 0
Graduation, transfers and simple quitting have taken a huge toll on Bearden volleyball in 2016, earning only one victory in its first 10 matches.
Only one experienced player returned from last season’s state tournament team.
Loss No. 9 came in Farragut High School’s Lynn E. Sexton Gymnasium Thursday evening, Aug. 25.
The Lady Admirals won easily in straight games [25-11, 25-9, 25-13] during both teams’ first District 4-AAA match.
Farragut’s record improved to 10-2 overall after the victory.
Among her team’s top individual performers, FHS
head coach Susan Davidson pointed to younger and less experienced players as her team improved to 10-2 after the win.
“Allison Yander has come back as a setter, she served extremely well tonight,” the Lady Admirals skipper said.
Serving “is something I’ve worked very hard on. We practice that a whole lot, hitting the right spots,” said Yander, a junior who ended with 14 points including two aces.
“And I think Sydney Cherney, our other setter, she’s just a quiet, all-around player. … She served well,” Davidson added about the sophomore, who ended with a team-high 19 assists plus 10 points and three aces. “She can hit, she can set, she can dig. She reads the ball really well.”
Cherney said about her team, “For like so early in the season we’ve been jelling really well.
“This year, since there are more freshmen up and more sophomores that are on the varsity now, I do take more of a leadership role,” Cherney added.
Alexis Parker, senior outside hitter, had 17 kills, eight digs and three blocks. Anne Abernathy, senior middle hitter, ended with seven kills, eight digs and three blocks.
“And Caroline Bower, we played her some right-side tonight, she can do well
anywhere across the net. She’s
a sophomore,” Davidson said.
Linda Sanchez, first-year BHS head coach, said Lady Bulldogs senior setter Kristin Dowling “played well,” adding sophomore libero Claire Wilson “had 16 digs. She played phenomenally well.”
“It’s different than last year because you lost players, but
we work hard in practice and it’s fun to help” the inexperienced and young players, Wilson said.
“They’re an outstanding team and we’re a really young team,” Dowling said. “… We’re definitely struggling right now, but I think we’re going to progress throughout this season and grow to be a better team.”
Sanchez said about her team’s lack of varsity experience, “You definitely take
that into account, but I’m going to hold them to the same expectations as I would any other team.
“I think they all realize they’ve been thrown into a tough spot,” Sanchez added.
