The Lady Wave kept their composure throughout the match and earned a sweep over Xenia.
Photo by Drew Terhall | The Daily Advocate
By Drew Terhall
Dailyadvocate.com
GREENVILLE — It was a busy night at Greenville High School on Sept. 24. The volleyball team honored their youth leagues and honored the city workers who worked hard to clean up the city after the tornado back in May. After the pre-match festivities, the team got to work and swept Xenia 3-0.
Head coach Michelle Hardesty said after a some recent struggles, the team showed how great they can be while still showing that they can improve in some areas.
“We’ve had a few struggles here lately. They’re trying to bring it back together. Early in the season, we had some injuries and some illnesses. We’re still dealing with some illnesses. Trying to get the girls back playing as a team. Tonight was a good showing,” Hardesty said.
The Lady Wave controlled the first set with their serving. It was more than getting aces. Greenville got Xenia out of system and were able to attack in the open areas. Players like seniors Brooke Schmidt and Shyanne Gibboney along with junior Kindyl Peltz and sophomore Lizzie Shaffer all were effective behind the serving line.
Greenville ended the first set on an 11-2 run to win 25-10.
The next two sets were close. In the second set, Xenia fought back from a six-point deficit to tie the set at 14-14. The Lady Buccs were doing a better job on serve receive and made plays to steal some points.
Once Greenville took an 18-17 lead, they played like they wanted to close it out. They never trailed again and won 25-20 for a 2-0 lead.
Hardesty said after the loss at Troy on Sept. 19, the team went back to work at practice and were eager to fix their mistakes.
“We had some really good practices since that match at Troy. The girls are always learning. They’re always hungry to learn and try to figure out what the issues are,” Hardesty said. “We’ve had some productive practices and some of it showed tonight.”
In the third set, Greenville got their serving game back on track and held a lead throughout the set. Xenia didn’t go away quietly as they kept some rallys going and forced Greenville into some errors.
But the Lady Wave kept fighting and kept a tight grip on their lead to win 25-19 to complete the sweep.
The team still has a handful of games left before tournament time. Tournament draw is scheduled for Oct. 6. Hardesty said the team still has that time to keep on improving. Like last season, this team is a special group that keeps rewriting the record books.
“This team is special. They broke some season records between last year and early this season. Just about every time we touch the ball, someone is setting a new record for Greenville. That’s exciting for the program,” Hardesty said.
Greenville will next play at Stebbins on Sept. 25 with the JV starting at 5:30 p.m. The Lady Wave are 9-8 on the season with an 8-5 MVL record.
Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected].
