Save for one possible point of concern, Polk County head volleyball coach Kelly Risley couldn’t have scripted a better Senior Night – a relatively easy win, plenty of playing time for all and an appreciative home crowd offering support.
The Wolverines closed out their regular season home schedule Thursday night with a 25-18, 25-9, 25-11 Western Highlands Conference win over Owen. Now 14-7 overall and 9-2 in WHC play, Polk County remains in the thick of the race for the conference’s second seed for the state 2A playoffs. Polk ends its season Tuesday at league leader Hendersonville.
The Polk County junior varsity squad also recorded a sweep, winning both of its games.
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From the pregame ceremony that honored seniors Kayla McEntire, Autumn Miller, Baileigh Fisher, Rebecca Mitchell and Cassidy Campbell to the final point served by Lilly Owens, the night belonged to Polk County. The Wolverines were only challenged in a tight first game that also saw the one negative of the night occur. Mitchell, after scoring a point at the net to give Polk an 8-7 lead, landed awkwardly and injured her left knee. Helped off the court, she watched the remainder of the game from the bench, but was up and walking after the match concluded.
“The big question of the night is whether Rebecca will be able to be back and be alright for Tuesday night (at Hendersonville),” Risley said.
Beyond that, Polk had no questions, just answers for everything Owen tried. After scoring the final three points of the first game, the Wolverines exploded in the middle of the second game behind the serving of Sarah Phipps, who turned to a jump serve that Owen struggled to receive. Also hitting from the back row with Owens, Phipps pushed the Wolverines to a 22-6 lead before Owen finally scored a point to break the run. It was only a momentary reprieve, though, as Addie Lynch nailed the final point of the game to give Polk a two-game lead.
The third game mirrored the second, with Phipps taking the serve at 4-2 and reeling off seven straight points for an 11-2 edge. The Wolverines continued to pull away, getting contributions from the entire lineup before Owens served the final five points of the match.
“We played well,” Risley said. “It’s always nice on Senior Night to get a victory and all of the seniors are able to play.
“When (Phipps) has confidence in her jump serve, she does a pretty darn good job from the back line. It’s really nice to see her serve that well. We haven’t used the jump serve a lot this year because she has struggled with consistency. But she definitely had confidence in it tonight.”
Phipps finished with 10 aces, 17 service points and 14 kills to lead Polk. Lynch added 14 service points and three kills, Owens had nine service points and seven digs and Kara Overholt and Campbell eadh added eight service points. Ashley Love returned from a concussion and had five kills. Overholt also had 62 assists while guiding the Polk attack.
