Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 Scots Sweep Past Huntingdon, Piedmont
MARYVILLE – Maryville reached the halfway point of the USA South conference season a perfect 8-0 with a double whitewash of Huntingdon and Piedmont here Saturday.
The Scots won the opener of the afternoon tri-match by knocking back Huntingdon 25-21, 25-13 and 25-16. After Huntingdon defeated Piedmont 3-0 in Match 2, Maryville returned to the Randy Lambert Court and handled Piedmont 25-15, 25-21 and 25-16.
Amii Ingalls had a big hand in both victories, contributing six kills and a team-high 16 digs in the opener and then posting a double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs in the nightcap.
"When we work as a team, the energy is there and the execution is there," Ingalls said. "We treat every match as a blank slate. We don't think 8-0; we think this game right here, right now, this is what we take care."
Huntingdon entered Saturday's play 4-2 in the USA South, but Maryville never let the visiting Hawks grab any momentum. Huntingdon's largest lead in each of the three sets was a single point.
"Conference energy is just different, and we came to compete," Ingalls said. "Everyone did what they were supposed to do, and it worked out and it was fun."
Maryville Defense Dominates
Huntingdon committed only five service errors in the match, but four of those came in the opener and that proved decisive in the 25-21 score. After that, Maryville held the Hawks to -.074 and -.028 hitting over the final two sets to win going away.
Isabella Samson posted 11 kills against Huntingdon and 21 for the day. Meredith Bonee had 28 assists and 11 digs in Match 1 and 36 more assists to go with 13 digs in Match 2.
Piedmont was swept 3-0 by Huntingdon, so Maryville figured to make easy work of its second match. But the Lions showed why they entered Saturday's play having won three of four by playing the Scots tough.
The first set was the smoothest for the home side. Maryville opened the set 5-0 and never looked back. The Scots began Set 2 with an 8-1 spurt and led 19-10 before Piedmont made things interesting. A service ace from Jenna Ash pulled Piedmont within 24-21 before Samson's kill closed it out.
Set 3 was tighter at the start, with five early ties and two lead changes. It was 8-8 until Maryville scored four straight for its first real lead. Bonee handled the serving during that stretch and punctuated it with an ace for the 12-8 advantage.
The Scots grew the lead to 18-11 on a kill from Morgan Smithson, who had eight of those in the second match. Maryville's largest lead of the final set was the final score thanks to Ingalls' 17th kill of the day.
Unique USA South Format
Head coach Kandis Schram liked how her team handled the format of playing two matches in one day, but this time with a two-hour break in between. The USA South format calls for tri-matches on the weekends.
"All week we talked about the ability to stop-and-start, stop-and-start and refocus, which is something you have to intentionally practice," Schram said of the team's scheduled noon and 4 p.m. starts. "We fell down a little bit in that second match, but it's a long day. And they refocused to get it done.
"So much of what we do is focus on right now, today is today, and yesterday is in the rearview mirror. It's hard to do and I was proud of how our team pushed through, especially in the first set. They knew that was a critical match for us, and we were really sharp."
The Scots are 12-8 overall to go with their 8-0 conference mark with eight matches remaining. Huntingdon is now 8-12 and 5-3, while Piedmont dropped to 3-13 and 3-5.
Next for Maryville is a first-place showdown Thursday against Covenant on Lookout Mountain. Covenant also won twice Saturday to improve to 7-1 in conference, good for solo second place in the USA South's Western Division. Covenant's lone loss was the 3-2 thriller at Maryville back on Sept. 22.
Start time Thursday from Covenant is 7 p.m.
