Robbinsville drops 5-set road battle
Rosman – A chance for redemption awaited Robbinsville.
But so much more was on the line.
Making the long trek to Rosman (7-1, 6-1) on Tuesday for a make-up conference battle, the Lady Knights were looking to both avenge a season-opening home loss against the Lady Tigers, as well as keep a spot in the playoffs as a viable option.
Though the rematch proved to be more of a nailbiter than the 4-set loss endured in Graham County on Nov. 16, the Knights were unable to capture lightning in a bottle in their inaugural foray into a fifth set this season, ultimately falling to Rosman 11-25, 25-16, 22-25, 25-18, 10-15.
“I thought we played great volleyball; I couldn’t have asked for them to do anything else,” boasted Robbinsville head coach Kadey Phillips.
The loss all but pushes Robbinsville (7-3, 5-3) away from securing one of the Smoky Mountain Conference’s two automatic bids – awarded to the conference champion and runner-up, which currently is slated to be Murphy and Rosman, respectively – but the Lady Knights are not out of options just yet.
The N.C. High School Athletic Association has introduced a “wild card” spot to the postseason, which are teams that will be picked after all conferences are awarded their pre-conditioned slots, based on the best conference winning percentages of teams that did not receive automatic bids.
So with Robbinsville sitting comfortably in third place in the division standings, all signs point to the Knights seeing playoff action. But Phillips assured that her team would not ease up down the stretch.
“We’re just going to focus on winning as many sets throughout the rest of the season as we can to help our chances,” Phillips said.
The first segment of Tuesday’s war in Transylvania County saw both teams race to a 7-7 deadlock, but a combination of front-line struggles and miscommunications helped Rosman quickly pull away, as the Tigers went on a 9-0 run to break the tie. Forced to recoup after the stunning set-one defeat, the Lady Knights made some pivotal changes that caught Rosman off-guard in set two, as Robbinsville soon held a 10-5 advantage, and later led 17-10.
“We switched up our rotation, putting our stronger defenders on the pass,” Phillips explained. “We stuck with that for the rest of the game.”
Set three proved to be the most competitive of the match, with both sides unable to tilt the momentum in their favor for much of the portion. Robbinsville would later found itself down 16-20, but went on a 5-0 run after and pulled ahead on a Kensley Phillips ace. However, Rosman maintained its composure through the competitive volleys that followed, going on to prevail. The Tigers started the fourth segment on a 5-0 run. The Knights’ response was a 9-2 run, which featured a go-ahead kill from Delaney Brooms. Robbinsville clicked all over the court in the fourth, with the back-line defense of Halee Anderson, Gabby Hooper and Kensley Phillips saving some tough returns from Rosman, Ally Ayers setting up some critical plays for the Knights up front, and Brooms, Karcee Dooley, Jimenez, Ivy Odom and Kensley Phillips keeping the Tigers reeling on some powerful hits.
But after forcing the fifth set, Robbinsville fell behind 5-0 and was unable to make up the ground lost down the stretch.
“We usually don’t see touches off the block. Matches like today are hard to mimic in a practice,” Phillips concluded.