Robbinsville – Even two-plus weeks off could not deter the Lady Knights’ momentum.
Robbinsville (7-0, 1-0 moved into the No. 1 ranking in the 1A classification during Graham County Schools’ two-week switch to remote learning and opened Smoky Mountain Conference play Tuesday, convincingly sweeping Hayesville (2-5, 2-3) at home: 12-25, 18-25, 23-25.
“Considering we’ve been off for two weeks, I was pleased with our defense,” Lady Knights head coach Kadey Phillips said after the match. “We’ve still got a couple of things (to work on).
“Ideally, we’re not where I’d like to be at this point in the season, starting conference games.”
The Knights ran away with the lead in set one, opening a 9-0 advantage before the Lady Jackets cracked the scoreboard. Hayesville put up much more of a fight for much of set two, but Robbinsville pulled away with a 6-point run late in the set.
Set three proved to be the most competitive. A back-and-forth affair escalated to an 18-11 lead, but Hayesville responded by going on 9-1 run to pull ahead.
However, Robbinsville was able to sustain the damage, with sophomore outside hitter Delaney Brooms slamming two resounding kills through the Jackets defense to seal the victory.
Now with only one practice and one match since returning to play, the Lady Knights’ focus now shifts to another pair of matches this week: road trips to Murphy (7-0, 4-0) after Wednesday’s press deadline and 3A Franklin (6-4) today.
“It will be two tough matches,” Phillips said. “I just hope our training kicks in and we’re ready for it.”
The junior varsity Lady Knights (4-2) fell to Hayesville 29-31, 25-20, 15-8; while Robbinsville’s middle school team fell to 1-1 by dropping straight sets to the Lady Jackets: 25-7, 26-24.