Polk County Middle prepped for its Blue Ridge Middle School Conference volleyball tournament opener with some extra hitting practice.
And the Wolverines put that work to good use on Monday.
Polk Middle controlled play at the net and also served well in taking a 25-17, 26-24 win over Bethel in the first round of the Blue Ridge postseason event at Polk.
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The defending champions, Polk County Middle (8-5) moves on to Wednesday’s semifinal, where the Wolverines will travel to Waynesville (9-4) to face the West Division’s top seed. The Mountaineers defeated Polk County earlier this season.
“Any time you can win in straight sets in the playoffs, we’ll take it, especially with a young team,” said Polk County Middle head coach Matthew Russell. “Hitting is something we’ve been focusing on in practice, letting the girls get their timing down. Sydney Waldman, our setter, has been working on timing with our hitters.
“I’ve got a group of girls who love to stay after and work on hitting until I kick them out of the gym. They really want to get better.”
Monday’s match began with Bethel (5-8) owning the momentum, the Blue Demons building a 7-1 lead in the first set. Polk County slowly inched back into the match, catching Bethel at 9-9, then pulling ahead at 11-9.
The two teams traded points before Sydney Metcalf, with Polk up 19-17, delivered three straight aces for a 22-17 lead. A point later, Ansley Lynch blocked a Bethel kill and tapped the ball back over for set point, which Metcalf claimed with an ace, the eight-point run giving the Wolverines a one-set lead.
Bethel also built a 7-3 lead in the second set, but Polk County rallied to again tie the match at 9-9. A Mireya Roman kill gave Polk the lead and began a run of six straight points fueled by Lynch and Reece Alley. Bethel. though, surged back and tied the set at 17.
The teams swapped points, reaching a 24-24 tie. Taking a set from Waldman, Alley caught Bethel’s defense napping with a deep two-hand shot that the Demons were unable to return to give Polk County match point. Bethel was then whistled for a net violation on the ensuing point, ending the match.
Russell hopes the solid hitting can carry over to Wednesday’s semifinal match.
“We’ve been there before and they beat us in straight sets, so we know what we’re up against,” Russell said. “We’re going to have a good, hard practice (Tuesday) and hope to get up there and pull the upset.”
