Back-and-forth 5-setter ends with HVA edging Lady Ads
Thursday night, Sept. 14, at home, Hardin Valley Academy outlasted a determined Farragut team 3-2. The Lady Admirals led two sets to one but dropped the final two.
Farragut’s won sets one and three by scores of 25-22 and 25-21. HVA won sets two, four and five by scores of 25-14, 25-18, and 15-4.
Lady Hawks head coach Joy Waller thought her team didn’t play its best.
“Good to hang in and get the win,” she said. “We didn’t play always like we’re capable of. Farragut really came to play.”
“I’m proud of them, the way they fought,” FHS coach Andre Alves said. “We’re still learning to play together, but we fought hard tonight and gave them a good match.”
HVA led 5-0 in the first set and held the lead to 15-10. FHS then ran off seven straight and finished the set off with a kill by outside hitter Elsa Morrison.
The Lady Hawks jumped to a commanding 17-5 lead in the second, then traded points to the end to knot the match at a set apiece.
Farragut led 18-12 in the third, only to see HVA win five straight. The Lady Admirals closed it out on a placement winner by setter Tori McNair.
HVA built a 16-8 lead in the fourth, then cruised to the win from there.
The fifth and deciding set was anticlimactic. Four kills, three aces and a placement winner clinched the match easily for Hardin Valley, 15-4.
Lady Hawks’ outside hitter Tinsley Brown was disappointed in her team’s performance. “We didn’t play our game tonight,” she said. “We finally got it together in the fifth; it should have happened sooner.”
“We really fought hard,” Morrison said. “We were confident up 2-1 but couldn’t finish.”
Morrison led Farragut in kills with 12. Teagan Williams was high for digs with 20. Tori McNair led the team in assists with 30 and aces with two.
Brown led HVA with 23 kills, five aces, and 14 digs. Bailey Byrd had five blocks and Annah Cate Hyatt 23 assists.
The District 4-AAA win improved the Lady Hawks’ record to 5-1 in district, 19-5 overall. Two weekend out-of-town match scores were unreported.
Farragut fell to 8-10 overall, 3-3 in district entering this week.
