Coal City – Independence volleyball head coach Kevin Bragg wasn’t quite sure what to expect from his team Thursday.
Coming off two tough preseason scrimmages, the Patriots opened the season hosting a tri-match with Greenbrier West and Wyoming East.
Much to the delight of the second-year head coach, and maybe a little to his surprise, Indy swept both matched 2-0.
“We played good enough to win tonight. Coming off two tough scrimmages against Woodrow Wilson and Shady Spring, the wins give us something to look forward to. We have a big trip this weekend and it won’t get easier,” Bragg said.
The first match of the night featured the Patriots against a Greenbrier West team with high hopes for a state championship run.
Although both squads showed some early season rust, game one was a back-and-forth contest that featured 11 ties with neither team leading by more than three points until late in the match.
Leading 21-20, Independence closed with four straight points to take game one. The final run included a kill from sophomore Jaina Davis and three unforced errors from the Cavaliers.
“We were standing on our heels a little too much tonight and we definitely weren’t talking,” Greenbrier West head coach, Cindy Nutter said. “The serves were terrible tonight. I think we would have been closer with Independence if we had gotten our serves in. The unforced errors were mainly communication problems.”
West took a quick 6-2 lead in game two behind two kills each from the sister duo of Kenzie O’Dell and Kadie O’Dell.
Just like in game one, however, Indy rallied and when a serve from Kyra Davis found it’s mark for an ace, the Patriots had tied the game at nine.
The Cavaliers pulled back in front at 14-13, only to see the Patriots score four in a row for a 17-14 lead.
West refused to go away and pulled within one point on three separate occasions down the stretch. Trailing 22-18, the O’Dell’s gave West life combining for three points, but the Cavs could not get over the hump.
A back row kill from Kyra Davis stemmed the tide, before a kill from sister, Jaida gave Indy the 25-22 win.
“We are scrappy, and we play good defense. That carried over from last year. We just have to learn to control that defense so we can go where we need to in order to get a kill,” Bragg said.
The brightest spot of the night for Bragg was the play of three of his youngsters. One who was pressed into action because the Indy roster was limited by COVID quarantines.
“”It was the little ones that came through for us. Aubrey (Cantrell) and Jaina both played big on the outside. They were huge tonight and I thought they were the difference because we didn’t serve very good,” Bragg said. “Lilli (Honaker) was in the right places at the right time tonight. She is normally a back row player and had never played the front row at the varsity level. I threw her out there and she knew what she needed to do.”
Greenbrier West defeated Wyoming East, 25-22 and 25-10 to win the second match.
“I liked the fact that when the girls got down, they were able to fight their way back. They are still struggling with the little things and that gets them in trouble,” Nutter said. “We had some amazing rallies against Independence and some good coverage. Some we won and some we didn’t.”
West led game one against the Warriors, 18-14 before East went on a 5-0 run. The run included two aces from Chloe Prichard and kills from Maggie Trent and Charleigh Price.
With the game tied at 22-apiece, a tip from Meagan Poticher and back-to-back kills from highly touted freshman, Presley Treadway sealed the victory.
“I think it will take a little bit for her to get comfortable, but Pressley is doing good, and she can really hit the ball,” Nutter said. “We just need her to not be timid and just go out there and hit it.”
Four straight kills from Treadway to open game two helped propel the Cavs to the easy win.
“Once we get it all to come together, we will be fine,” Nutter said. “They have to learn that no matter which team they are playing, they have to adjust to how that team is playing us.”
Wyoming East also dropped both games to Independence by the score of 25-20.
Although her team did not pick up a win Thursday, Warriors head coach, Tabitha Lusk had nothing but praise for her team.
“To be honest, I was impressed with my girls tonight. It was our first match and on top of that, we have been in quarantine and just got out ,” Lusk said. “We have conducted practice over Teams meetings on the computer. We also lost a starter today for medical reason which forced a change in our line-up. We did struggle some, but I could not have been more proud of these girls. It is a young team too. I only have one senior.”
The positive part of the night for Lusk was the two areas her team has worked on during their limited live practices – serving and defense
“Serving is one thing that we really hit hard when we practiced. We don’t have a lot of size. I have a couple of taller girls, but we don’t have the size that these other teams do,” Lusk explained. “So, we work mostly on defense and serving because that is how we are going to win. We don’t hit hard or get many blocks, but we can return about anything that is thrown at us.