Lady Admirals drop matches to Webb, Catholic
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Farragut’s Megan Frana (6) delivers a spike against Webb. - Jake Nichols
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Farragut volleyball coach Whitney Lee instructs her team. - Jake Nichols
It was three hard-fought sets for Farragut High School’s volleyball team Wednesday, Aug. 26, on the road at Webb School of Knoxville.
But the Lady Admirals came up short in each and lost the match 3-0. The set scores were 25-20, 25-22, and 26-24.
“They’re a good team,” said FHS first-year coach Whitney Lee. “I don’t think we let up. Two points here, three points there … they played tough.”
In the first set, the Lady Admirals led 12-10, but Webb then won eight of the next 10 to lead 18-14. A 6-2 run by FHS knotted the set at 20, but the Lady Spartans ran off the final five to take it, 25-20.
In the second set, Webb led 17-11, and seemed in control. But FHS then won seven of the next 10 to cut the deficit to 20-18. The teams traded points to the end, and the Lady Spartans hung on, 25-22.
An 8-1 run midway through the third set put Farragut up 20-12, and the match seemed headed for a fourth set. But Webb then ran off 10 of 13 to cut FHS’s lead to one, 23-22. Farragut had a set point at 24-22, but Webb won the final four points to take the set 26-24, and the match.
“We just found a way at the service line there at the end,” said Webb coach Nicklin Hames. “We made a few less errors and we were able to work our way back into it.”
“I think we played great, it was just a tough match,” said FHS outside hitter Megan Frana.
Knoxville Catholic High School 3, Farragut 0
The FHS volleyballers had an even tougher outing the next night at home, losing 3-0 to Knoxville Catholic High School. Only the second set was competitive.
The set scores were 25-13, 25-17, and 25-10. The Lady Irish were especially strong in serving.
“They’re good,” said FHS assistant coach Mike Lee. “This is the kind of team you want to play because of the competition. There were a lot of positive things. We’re encouraged but we gotta get to work.”
“We played pretty well tonight,” said KCHS coach Brent Carter. “We served the ball really, really well tonight.”
Farragut jumped to a 4-1 lead in the first set, but Catholic then won 10 of 13 to lead 11-7. Up 15-12, KCHS ran off nine straight to make it 24-12, then closed it out two points later.
Midway through the second, the Lady Irish won eight of nine points, then six of seven shortly afterward, and took the set 25-17.
Catholic opened the third set 8-1, then cruised from there. KCHS won eight of the final 10 points to win the set 25-12, and the match.
Frana and middle hitter Olivia Cope each had six kills for Farragut. Setter Emberly McNair led FHS in both assists and digs with seven each. Frana had a pair of aces.
Cope likes where the team is at this point in the season. “I feel really good about where we are,” she said.
