East Central traveled to Southport Saturday for their annual volleyball invitational. The Trojan varsity went 2-1 on the day, finishing third overall.
“In pool play, we started with Scecina where we took the match 2-1,” said EC coach Cassie Laker. “We started out slow but, by the end of the match, we seemed to be finding a groove. We had to fight back in both the first and second set, but dominated the third to secure the win. Due to injuries, we had to start using another new line-up which I believe likely contributed to the slow start.”
“Our second match in pool play was against a tough Park Tudor team,” stated Laker. “They had one really dominant hitter who is every bit of 6’0″-plus, can jump and is strong. She was hitting over our block anytime their setter fed her the ball. They have a very specific game plan- feed the outside hitters non-stop and let them get the job done. They executed that plan very well. We made some adjustments in the first game that let us battle with them, but our serve receive couldn’t get our offense in system which led to a lot of free balls. In the second game, we fell apart and couldn’t handle the dominance of their pins.”
Laker concluded, “Going 1-1 in pool play put us in the third place match against Greenwood Christian Academy. We started off really strong, controlling the game with our passing, which allowed our offense to do what they do best. We struggled to find that same rhythm in the second set, but were able to fight through and get the win.”
Game scores and top East Central stat performers for each match via MaxPreps:
EC def. Scecina 25-23, 24-26, 15-4. Stat leaders: Hope Fox 6 kills, 3 aces and 15 serve receptions; Olivia Turner 22 assists and 2 total blocks; Avery Daniels 6 total blocks and Becca Tupper 11 digs
Park Tudor def. EC 25-17, 25-9. Stat leaders: Fox 4 kills, 2 aces and 12 serve receptions; Maycey Lewis 2 aces; Turner 12 assists; Tupper 2 total blocks and Haylee Fraizer 9 digs.
EC def. Greenwood Christian Academy 25-11, 25-20. Stat leaders: Tupper 7 kills and 4 aces, 7 serve receptions; Chloe Bushman 4 aces, Turner 19 assists; Fox 10 digs, Fraizer 7 serve receptions
The East Central JV brought home the championship at Southport going 3-0. They defeated both Scecina and Park Tudor in pool play to make it to the championship match against the host Southport. After dropping a close first set, they bounced back and took the next two to bring the trophy home.
We thank coach Laker for the information.