Polk County Middle School eked out a dramatic first set Wednesday against Apple Valley – then quickly took away any suspense in the second set.
The Wolverines rallied for a 27-25 first-set win, then stormed to a 25-14 win in the second set to sweep the Knights 2-0 in Blue Ridge Middle School Conference action at Polk Middle.
Polk Middle improved to 6-4 with the win. The Wolverines are slated to host Hendersonville Middle on Monday at 4:30 p.m. in their final regular-season home match of the season.
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After taking a 5-1 lead in the first set and holding that four-point advantage for some time, Polk Middle saw its 16-12 edge evaporate as Apple Valley scored eight straight points for a 20-16 lead. Polk quickly cut the gap to 20-19, but Apple Valley put together a 4-2 run for a 24-21 advantage.
But the Knights couldn’t shake Polk, as the Wolverine scored the next three points, tying the match at 24-24 on Monica Stott’s cross-court short that dropped just inside the boundary. Apple Valley again had set point at 25-24, but the Wolverines scored the next three points to claim the set.
“Maybe we weren’t ready or maybe we weren’t focused,” said Polk County Middle head coach Matthew Russell of the Knights’ comeback in the first set. “But the girls pulled together and got the ball over the net when they needed to. They showed a lot of heart.”
The Wolverines held a 7-6 edge in the second set when play was stopped for several minutes due to a scorekeeping question. Polk returned from that break with eight straight points, the Knights struggling to handle the serves of Reece Alley, who had five aces in the run. A Sydney Metcalf kill made it 15-6 before Apple Valley finally regained serve.
The Knights briefly rallied to within five at 15-10 before Polk began pulling away, building the lead to 11 at 22-11 on a Mireya Roman kill and then closing out the match on an Alley hit.
“The second set was more indicative of where we are as a team,” Russell said.
