Lady Knights’ 2-0 lead seeps away in postseason road match
Gastonia – One of the Lady Knights’ Achilles heels reared its ugly head Tuesday.
Robbinsville (No. 13 seed, 17-9) opened up a 2-0 lead in the second round of the state playoffs at Highland Tech (No. 4, 21-3). The Lady Rams came out of the locker room for set three with renewed vigor, eventually rallying to advance in the postseason race: 26-24, 25-14, 17-25, 14-25, 11-15.
Despite the tough loss, the Knights’ stepped off the bus after the 3 1/2-hour trip and delivered a resounding message: they came to play.
Highland Tech led by six at one point, but Robbinsville systemically chipped away at the deficit and went on to tie the stanza 18-18. From there, the Rams went on a 6-0 sprint – which included three service-aces from Alise Mayers – but the Lady Knights regained possession and put together a 7-1 dash. Between senior Kensley Phillips’ serves, back-row work from freshman libero Suri Watty and powerful attacks up front off junior Delaney Brooms, Robbinsville was able to rally.
Full of swagger, the Lady Knights cruised through set two. Highland Tech’s run in sets three and four was driven by Mayers and Madison Thompson’s attacks up front, a 6-0 start to set four and some tough serves from senior libero Ryann Sloann down the stretch in the fourth – but the Knights trotted out for set five with their eyes on the prize.
A 2-0 start for Robbinsville in the tiebreaker quickly evolved into a back-and-forth. The Knights were able to pull away with a 9-5 advantage and were full of fire after a Rams timeout, as Robbinsville was just six points away from advancing to the third round for the first time since 2019.
But momentum is a strong factor in volleyball. Highland Tech rattled off a pair of points, a spark was lit – and the Rams soon ended the Knights’ season with a 10-2 run.
1st round dominance
Robbinsville – The Lady Knights were psyched for their first-round playoff match Saturday, with the N.C. Leadership Academy (No. 20, 18-7) making a 241-mile trip to Graham County for the showdown.
What Robbinsville soon discovered, however, is that the Lady Falcons were stocked with talent and youth – just one player, Jenna Clayton, is a senior – but on-court experience was lacking. The Leadership Academy showed glimpses of greatness-to-come, but the Knights easily disposed of their first-round opponents: 10-25, 15-25, 13-25.
The match played out to much of the same theme, in each of the three sets: the Knights and Falcons battled back-and-forth in the opening volleys, but Robbinsville would soon clinch the momentum and string together a lengthy run that dashed the academy’s hopes and dreams – including an 18-3 sprint to pull away with set one.
Communication errors also plagued the visitors all night, with the Lady Knights also exposing major holes left up front by simply tipping the ball over the net for points. The Falcons struggled to adjust to quick defensive reads from the likes of Barlow, Claire Brooms, Phillips and Aubrie Wachacha, who each recorded points for Robbinsville by making minimal contact.
Tourney finals
Bryson City – After two sets, it seemed that Robbinsville had things well in-hand.
After five, the Lady Knights exited the floor in defeat – left to wonder how the wheels fell off.
Robbinsville appeared to have all the right ingredients needed to sweep the top-seeded Murphy Lady Bulldogs in the Smoky Mountain Conference tournament finals, which were held Oct. 19 at Swain County High School. The two programs had split the divisional crown – Murphy was given the No. 1 tournament seed via a coin-flip tiebreaker – so a win for either side was crucial for playoff seeding.
The Knights were in perfect harmony during set one, overwhelming the Bulldogs up front and prevailing 25-20 as a result. Firmly in the drivers seat, Robbinsville pulled away from Murphy (No. 6 seed, 23-3) to the tune of an 8-2 run to close out a 25-14 trumping in set two.
The Bulldogs thundered back in the third set, thanks largely to strong offensive and defensive work up front from Olivia Payne and Maddison Seabolt. Following the 19-25 victory by Murphy, the Knights fell out-of-sync. Balls dropped with no one moving – or calling – for the play. Spikes were blocked and serves found Robbinsville’s side of the net – or sailed out-of-bounds. It was a night that was simply not meant to be for Graham County’s contribution to the bracket. Though the Knights never threw in the towel, the Bulldogs took prime advantage of the miscues, and rallied successfully from the 2-0 deficit by winning set four 18-25 and the tie-breaking fifth set 9-15.