Clinton’s Cadence Best sending the ball over the outstretched hands of East Bladen’s Miriam DeVane.
Alex Brooks | The Bladn Journal
CLINTON — The Clinton Darkhorses’ defeated the East Bladen Lady Eagles for a 3-1 victory on Wednesday evening for a non-conference match-up. The host ran away with the first set for a 25-8 victory to take a 1-0 lead in the best of five series. The next set was much of the same dominance from the Darkhorses’ as they quickly scored five unanswered at the start of the second set.
East Bladen junior Miriam DeVane rose above the net and smashed a kill for the visitors first point of the set but a service error a few moments later set them back further. Clinton junior Cadence Best smashed her service point over the net to extend the lead to 7-1. DeVane fought for the Lady Eagles second point with two straight blocks in front of the net but they still had plenty of work to do to make up the deficit.
A couple more attacking errors set the visitors back but junior Martha Simmons slammed a kill towards the opposite side of the net to bring the score to 13-3. The Darkhorses’ immediately responded with a block from senior Zoie Avery that put an end to a back and forth rally.
Clinton freshmen Jenna Jackson sent over two straight aces to extend her teams lead to 17-3 as the second set began to lean in favor of the host. East Bladen were able to get a point on an attacking error from their opponents and followed it up with a service point from senior Karley Ross. Senior Molly Evans sought to keep momentum going for the Lady Eagles with a kill but the host responded with three straight unanswered.
DeVane slammed a kill and lightly tapped a point over the otherside of the net to make the score 19-9. Best responded with a kill of her own to put Clinton back in the driver’s seat to win the second set with ease. Attacking errors from the host prevented them from winning the set sooner but senior Jayda Matthis sent over the decisive kill to end the second set at 25-11.
East Bladen made the third set interesting as both teams went back and forth with each other in order to find an edge. Clinton junior Gracin Bass broke a 4-4 deadlock with a gentle touch shot over the net and Best followed it up with a kill for two unanswered points. The Lady Eagles caught a break with some attacking errors from their opponents to keep the set within reach.
Evans dropped a touch shot over the net to bring the visitors within two points from tying the set. The two teams dug-in and went to battle with rallies resulting in points for the Lady Eagles to tie the game at 10-10. An attacking error from the Darkhhorses’ gave their opponents a one point advantage as momentum began to shift. Evans was back in front of the net a few moments later to blast a kill over the net that left her opponents scrambling.
East Bladen junior Iveonna Ward got involved in the action with a service point to give her team a three point lead. Clinton was scrambling to find their footing and yet another attacking error would set them back more. Finally, Best would blast her kill over the net to end the host cold streak to make the game 14-11. The Lady Eagles didn’t flinch as they extended their lead with a kill from junior Mollie Tolar after a long rally and digs from both teams.
Clinton called timeout in order to regroup and they came back out on the floor to claw back within two points after senior Savannah Pearson got an ace to sneak across her opponent’s end. Best would eventually tie the game once more with her ace dipping over the net into a dangerous area to make the third set 17-17. Ross responded with a point of her own as the visitors reclaimed the lead momentarily.
Things began to get down to the wire after Mathis smashed two straight service points to tie the set at 20-20. Clinton would take a three point advantage but their opponents refused to lay down and the set was back to a deadlock at 23-23. Ward slammed a kill over the net to give the Lady Eagles a 24-23 advantage and an attacking error from the host would seal the set at 25-23.
The start of set four was another tightly contested set with both teams trading points with one another. Clinton began to pull away from their opponents at 16-13 after an attacking error from the visitors. Avery denied the Lady Eagles twice with blocks at the net to extend the host lead to 19-13. Simmons was able to end the Lady Eagles cold streak with a block of her own but they were still behind by six points in the fourth set.
Clinton junior Kailee Parrish sent over three straight service points to put her team within one point from ending the game at 24-16. Evans responded with a kill that fell in the far corner of the floor to score the final point of the match for the Lady Eagles. A service error would give the host the win and the fourth set concluded at 25-17.
East Bladen now fall to 3-8 on the season and they will take on West Columbus this Thursday for their next game.
OTHER RESULTS IN THE WEEK:
Heide Trask def. East Bladen 3-0, Set I: 25-20, Set II: 25-11, Set II: 25-20 (Waccamaw 1A/2A)