Polk County’s volleyball season came to an end Tuesday at McMichael as the Phoenix rallied from a first-set deficit to eliminate the Wolverines 22-25, 25-15, 25-23, 25-23 in the second round of the 3A state playoffs.
The Wolverines (15-12) grabbed the opening set, building an early 13-8 advantage and maintaining the lead throughout. Akeela Cunningham’s kill closed out the 25-22 win.
McMichael (22-10) responded in the second set, using a 7-2 run behind Carrington Vaughn’s serving to pull away for a 25-15 victory that evened the match.
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The third set proved pivotal. Polk County surged to an 18-13 lead before McMichael fought back to tie the set at 19-19. The Phoenix pushed ahead 24-22, and though the Wolverines fought off one set point, Belmony Abbey commit Zoey Bradford hammered a kill down the line to give McMichael a 2-1 advantage.
McMichael jumped ahead 4-0 in the fourth set, but Polk battled back to even it at 14-14. The Phoenix rebuilt their lead to 18-14 before Beija Olivari’s kill stopped the run.
Trailing 20-16, the Wolverines made one final charge. Lorali Wing blocked Bradford, and Abby Lewis followed with an ace to make it 20-18. Charley Dusenbury’s kill at 22-18 kept Polk within striking distance, and Reeve Carroll’s kill pulled the Wolverines to 22-21.
Eva Lockhart’s kill for McMichael made it 23-21, and Caitlin Tanton’s middle kill brought match point at 24-22. Carroll saved one match point with a kill, but Lockhart ended the match with an off-speed kill from the left side.
Cunningham finished with 22 kills, 10 of those in the opening set, five aces and 18 digs while Carroll had 19 kills and 23 digs. Wing had five blocks.
Dusenbury had 26 assists and 13 digs, with Lewis adding 17 assists. Junie Mitchell had 13 digs while Aslyn Scruggs added 10.
