Lady Knights volleyball stuns Murphy, now 8-0
Robbinsville – The last time Robbinsville defeated Murphy in volleyball, this year’s class of seniors were still in middle school.
The 2015 sweep of the Lady Bulldogs seemed like a distant memory until Sept. 5, when the Lady Knights (8-0) made their biggest statement of the year by taking down the defending Smoky Mountain Conference champions in a 5-set thriller: 25-21, 25-22, 21-25, 13-25, 20-18. A goal since the outset of the season for both head coach Kadey Phillips and the entire Lady Knights team became a reality in front of a raucous crowd at Robbinsville High School.
“I am a nervous wreck,” Phillips said in the aftermath. “I am beyond proud of these girls; we’ve worked so hard. We set goals at the beginning of the season and they’ve worked so hard to achieve them.”
A much-hyped match, the showdown between the top two teams in the division lived up to the build. The Lady Knights opened a 9-2 lead in set one, but Murphy (7-1) thundered back on the strength of a 10-1 run after. However, resounding kills from Karlyn Matheson and a stubborn wall up front – formed by Gracye Burchfield and Ally Ayers – gave the Robbinsville offense time to respond and take the segment.
The Lady Bulldogs went ahead 5-0 in set two, thanks to the tough net presence of Torin Rogers and Hailey Bowman. But Murphy experienced several lapses in communication as the two sides played through the set, allowing the Knights to rally from a 15-6 hole to secure a 2-0 advantage.
A back-and-forth set three followed, with some bad hits from Robbinsville proving costly down the stretch. A controversial call that would have secured the Murphy triumph at match-point – a line judge did not have a clear answer on whether the ball was in or out, forcing the point to be replayed – temporarily breathed new life into the Knights, but the surge came too little, too late.
Plagued by communication errors of its own in set four, Robbinsville could not get into rhythm on either the back or front lines, allowing the Lady Bulldogs to tie the match at 2-2.
A frantic set five capped off the battle in appropriate fashion, with neither side willing to lay down when the point-advantage was not favorable. Timeouts were called throughout the stanza and included senior leadership from setter Liz Ayers, who reminded the team just how important the match was.
“I just kept telling them to pick their heads up,” Ayers said. “It’s something we wanted to do (beat Murphy).”
Yeika Jimenez stepped up in a big way by slamming some convincing kills onto Murphy’s side during the set, but even when the match surpassed the 15-point tiebreaker – you must have a 2-point advantage to win – a victory was denied until the end.
Once a Robbinsville shot back over the net hit the ground and sent the gym into a frenzy, as players were mobbed by peers and students alike in the chaos.
It was a fitting end to a truly remarkable night of Smoky Mountain Conference volleyball.
“I was very proud of our strong start; that’s usually our weakness,” Phillips added. “Being able to come back after two losses shows a lot of character.”
Matheson finished the match with one ace, 19 kills, two blocks, nine digs and three assists. Jimenez added one ace, 10 kills, three blocks, six digs and one assist, while Kensley Phillips tacked on five kills and 11 digs. Ayers’ 29 assists led the team in that category, with Gabby Hooper posting a Robbinsville-high 29 digs.
Robbinsville kept the good vibes going Monday night, sweeping Cherokee (1-6) 25-1, 25-11, 25-12.
Matheson had four aces, 12 kills, two blocks, one dig and one assist against the Lady Braves. Karcee Dooley totaled three aces, six kills, one block and one dig, while Jimenez added three kills and one dig. Ayers led the team in assists, with 14.
Tuesday brought Hiwassee Dam (4-3) to Graham County, which resulted in a 25-22, 25-16, 25-20 win over the Lady Eagles.
Stats from the Hiwassee Dam match were not available by Wednesday’s press deadline.
Junior varsity
Robbinsville (2-5) lost a close 27-25, 12-25, 13-15 match to Murphy, but swept Cherokee 25-14, 25-23. The Lady Knights took set one, 25-21, Tuesday against Hiwassee Dam, before falling 19-25, 14-16 to drop the contest.
Middle school
The middle school Lady Knights dropped a 20-25, 20-25 affair with Murphy.
Final scores for both the Cherokee and Hiwassee Dam matches were not received by press time.