Lady Knights shining through non-conference schedule
Robbinsville – Each time they step on the court, you can sense the poise.
The Lady Knights are looking as fluid right now as they have all season, bumping their season mark to 9-2 overall (3-0 in Smoky Mountain Conference play) after dismantling a pair of visitors from the Plateau this week: Highlands, in a 10-25, 13-25, 12-25 sweep Monday; and Blue Ridge School, via a 13-25, 6-25, 7-25 run Tuesday.
It’s not the Highlanders nor the Bobcats fault that they caught Robbinsville amid a dominant run: since taking set four to defeat Murphy in an Aug. 29 road appointment, the Lady Knights have won 13 straight sets of volleyball, against both divisional and non-divisional opposition.
True, Robbinsville is running through a gamut of Little Smoky Mountain Conference teams – concluding with a trip to Hiwassee Dam today – but the numbers do not lie.
The first pairing against Highlands on Aug. 22 was a 3-0 Knights nod, but the set scores in Macon County (25-22, 25-20, 25-23) were much closer than Monday’s rematch, which saw Robbinsville shave off the number of points surrendered to the Lady Highlanders by 30. Tuesday was the first and only time the Lady Knights will see Blue Ridge School this year – and in fact, is the first time Robbinsville has not had to travel to face the Bobcats since the opening dance of the 2009 playoffs.
The Lady Knights have shutouts in 6-of-9 matches this year. They boast the conference leaders in aces (Aubrie Wachacha, 49); assists (Ryn Hooper, 268); blocks (Claire Barlow, 20); digs (Delaney Brooms, 169); kills (Brooms again, 158); and serve-receive (Suri Watty, 175).
A stifling run such as the one Robbinsville is currently on benefits the squad in many ways. Head coach Kadey Phillips and assistant coach Dede Brooms both developed some intriguing experiments Tuesday, for example: starting libero Watty jogged to the locker room in the second set and emerged in a normal jersey (eventually finding herself eligible to play on the front row); while defensive specialist Olivia Lewis assumed Watty’s libero role for the third segment.
Furthermore, senior outside hitter Tia Hall shifted from her typical spot on the front-right to the left; while Liz Carpenter continued to make a name for herself up front, as well as show great strides in back-row coverage.
Most question marks surrounding Robbinsville this year have quickly faded – yet, one remains: how does a team remain so focused? Confidence is key, sure: but how do you balance confidence and arrogance?
“We always try to play our game and play at our level to the best of our abilities,” Brooms explained. “Staying humble during this time isn’t very hard, when we know we have big games coming up and we are watching film on our next big game. We stay humble by knowing that there are teams in our conference that – if we don’t show up – we will lose (to). Knowing that keeps us where we need to be as a team.”
The only JV match of the week resulted in a hard-fought loss for Robbinsville (1-8), which dropped a 25-20, 25-19 contest to Highlands.