West Bladen’s Greer Pope (9) returns the ball as East Bladen’s Aubrei Nixon (24) and Taylor Dowless (11) go for the block during Wednesday’s volleyball match.
Layne Ross / @Lrmixes
It was intense.
It was nerve-racking.
By the end, Wednesday’s volleymatch match between East Bladen and West Bladen had become an instant classic.
Unbeaten West Bladen prevailed against the winless Eagles 25-17, 25-15, 27-29, 22-25, 17-15 in front of an enthusiastic crowd of about 300 inside the East Bladen gym.
“That game was great,” winning coach Jessica Rhodes said. “I appreciate good volleyball and both teams were playing good volleyball.
“I told the girls after the game that sometimes we’re down and sometimes we’re up, but if we can stay focused and positive and happy, we can finish the game and do what we need to do.”
The Knights improved to 3-0 and are scheduled to play at West Columbus on Monday.
East Bladen, now 0-4, is scheduled to host Clinton on Monday. The Eagles had won only one set prior to Wednesday’s match, but rallied to push the deciding set to overtime.
“I kept the same lineup to keep the momentum going from the fourth set since we were so riled up,” East Bladen coach Jordan Raynor said. “We just couldn’t finish, but we did want it, we did work for it, we just ran out of time.”
The match took about 2½ hours and each team filled up the statistics.
Greer Pope led West Bladen with 33 assists, six kills and 10 attacks. Natalee Sykes had 24 assists and four kills. Emmy Bryant had seven service aces, 11 digs and 13 assists. Makenna Thurman had 13 kills and 19 attacks. Tahlela Bethea had four blocks and five kills. Jaylyn Clark had seven kills and 12 attacks. Shanna Lewis had six kills. Helaina Conklin and Kali Allen each had four kills.
For East Bladen, Taylor Dowless had 10 kills and 18 attacks. Cabria Baldwin had seven kills, nine attacks and two blocks. Aubrei Nixon had six kills, six blocks and 12 attacks. Marlee Potter had five kills. Tatum Allen had three service aces. Addison Douglas had 10 digs.
West Bladen raced to a 10-3 lead in the first set and East Bladen never got closer than five. It was much the same in the second set as the Knights scored nine of the first 11 points.
East Bladen came to life in the third set overtime win that featured 11 ties after the Eagles tied it at 14-all. East Bladen led for much of the fourth set in tying the match and forcing a decisive fifth set.
The final set had long rallies, diving saves and 10 ties before West Bladen scored the final two points for a 17-15 victory.
“We pointed out to them that we had to play our game in the fifth set,” Rhodes said. “No matter where we are, no matter where we’re playing and no matter how it looks on the scoreboard, I try to harp on them about being positive, being happy and just enjoying volleyball. If they keep that in mind it’s going to shake out in their favor.”
Although it was another loss for the Eagles, Raynor felt that her team could build on the way they played over the final three sets.
“After every game we go to the huddle and we all give a positive and then something that we need to work on,” Raynor said. “Everybody had something positive to say, so I feel like the team is finally (learning that) if we do work together it will pay off.”
The teams are scheduled to play again Aug. 27 at West Bladen.
Sonny Jones can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X @FOSonnyJones.