Bryson City – As make-ups continue to force Robbinsville into an unusual schedule, the Lady Knights ran into their first speed bumps of the season last week.
Though Robbinsville (8-2, 2-1) swept the Swain County Lady Devils (0-10, 0-5) to the tune of 25-23, 25-13, 25-13 on Monday night, road trips to Murphy (8-1, 5-0) on Sept. 15 and Franklin (7-5) on Sept. 16 did not yield the outcomes the Knights were looking for. Robbinsville suffered its first losses of the season during the back-to-back matches – a 18-25, 20-25 and 19-25 defeat against the Lady Bulldogs, and a 25-17, 25-19, 22-25, 20-25, 16-18 loss in Macon County.
“Having the two weeks off was definitely not ideal,” Robbinsville head coach Kadey Phillips said, citing the two-week pause on Graham County athletics that lasted from Aug. 30 through Sept. 13 due to COVID-19 concerns. “We lost out on a lot of reps, which hurt us in the returning week.”
Swain gave Robbinsville all it could handle in set one Monday, but the Lady Knights raced to a 9-0 lead in the second set and never looked back. The deciding segment started out fairly even, but Robbinsville pulled away to a 17-9 lead to dash the Lady Devils’ hopes of ending their winless season.
The Lady Knights were never able to seize the momentum at Murphy, with the Bulldogs dictating the pace and advantage for much of the match. The trip to Franklin was eerily similar to the first meeting between the two programs this season, which was Robbinsville’s season opener on Aug. 16. The Knights opened a 2-0 advantage in that match before Franklin rallied to force a fifth set. Only in the rematch, the Lady Panthers would prevail.
“We are working hard to make up for missed time and getting back adjusted. I am confident that we will be able to finish out the remainder of the season strong,” Phillips said.
JV, middle school
Robbinsville (5-3) split the junior varsity slate, dropping a 17-25, 21-25 match at Franklin before upending Swain County 25-12, 25-14 on Monday.
The middle school Lady Knights (2-2) rode the wave of 18 straight serves in set two from Abby Wehr to a 25-11, 25-8 triumph against Murphy, but fell in straight sets to the Lady Devils 8-25, 16-25.