Lady Knights improve to 3-2, shift focus to divisional opener
Robbinsville – Make no mistake about it: the Lady Knights are getting a good mixture of opposition from the early portion of their schedule.
Wedged between sweeps of Little Smoky Mountain Conference programs Nantahala (0-2) on Aug. 17 and Highlands (0-3) on Tuesday was a four-set loss to Asheville on Monday.
Robbinsville caught the 4A Lady Cougars off-balance and took a 1-0 lead in the match, but Asheville thundered back to take the affair 15-25, 25-20, 25-23, 28-26.
But even with the Knights’ struggles against bigger schools in mind, head coach Kadey Phillips is optimistic after what she’s seen so far from her squad.
“A loss – of course – is not what you want to take out of it, but the two losses we’ve had have been very good losses,” Phillips said. “We’ve played great volleyball. It’s given us the competition we need, going into our conference play next week.”
Despite the match rally put together by Asheville, Robbinsville (3-2) pushed the Lady Cougars to their very limit in each set after its set-one triumph. Trailing in the second stanza, the Lady Knights went on a 10-2 tear to pull within reaching distance. Set three was the tightest battle of the night, as neither side could ascertain an advantage greater than one point from the midway point of the segment to the closing moments.
All hope was not lost, however. Robbinsville threatened a fifth, tie-breaking period by pushing ahead 22-24 in set four. But the Knights could not piece together a decisive response to Asheville’s tough deliveries and thus fell for the second time this season.
Robbinsville fared much better against Nantahala, swooping in and handing the Lady Hawks a 25-2, 25-2, 25-6 loss. The Knights experienced more of a fight out of the Lady Highlanders – including a set-two sprint that saw Highlands rally twice to tie the chase – but held firm and behind some solid work up front from Claire Barlow, Delaney Brooms, Kensley Phillips and Aubrie Wachacha, dashed the Lady Highlanders’ dream of a comeback, to the tune of a 14-25, 20-25, 18-25 victory.
Showtime
Amidst a five-match homestand, Robbinsville will look to conquer its first two Smoky Mountain Conference-exclusive contests the season.
The Lady Knights have already logged five matches in a span of nine days to begin the campaign, so the team will enjoy a breather before hosting Cherokee on Tuesday and Murphy on Thursday, Sept. 1.
“I think we’re keyed in,” coach Phillips said. “We seem to be working well together. We have a lot of new people on the floor that have never played together, but I think we’re getting all that figured out.
“The Asheville game was intense. I know the girls are tired and their bodies are hurting, so we’re going to rest and study. We’ll be ready for next week.”
Junior varsity
Robbinsville’s next varsity stars are still in search of win No. 2, after dropping matches to Asheville and Highlands on Monday and Tuesday.
The Lady Knights (1-3) fell 25-18, 25-17 to the Cougars, but seemed poised to even their record to .500 against the Highlanders.
Highlands nipped a 26-24 win in set one Tuesday, but Robbinsville thundered back by prevailing in set two 25-22.
The Knights even stared match-point in the face during the third and deciding set, but a pair of tough calls ended up proving costly for Robbinsville, as Highlands enjoyed a 16-14 victory to take the match.