Road-weary Polk pushes past Kings Mountain in four sets

Two nights of long road trips seemed to leave Polk County with a case of net lag early in Thursday’s match with Kings Mountain.

Unfortunately for the Mountaineers, Polk County didn’t stay quiet for long.

The Wolverines roared to life and rolled to a 3-1 victory over Kings Mountain, claiming a 23-25, 25-9, 25-21, 25-15 win in a non-conference match at Polk.

The Wolverines (8-3) didn’t return from Wednesday’s huge conference win at Mountain Heritage until shortly before midnight, a bus malfunction delaying the return trip. Perhaps that late night helped Kings Mountain (5-4) early, the Mountaineers leading much of the first set before winning it.

But Polk County exploded for a 9-0 lead in the second set and were never tested, easily wining the set. For a 1-1 match, it felt like Polk County had taken command. The Wolverines, it turned out, had.

“It’s been a hard, tiring week, traveling to Avery and Mountain Heritage,” said Polk County head coach Molly Hill. “The girls are tired and they let that show in that first set.

“We pulled it together that second game. I felt like that was our best game. We played really well offensively. It just took us a while to get started.”

Polk built a 7-2 lead early in the third set, eventually widened the gap to 21-14 and seemed poised to wrap up another easy set, but Kings Mountain reeled off seven straight points to tie the game. A serving error gave Polk a 22-21 lead and possession of the serve, and the Wolverines used an Addie Lynch kill, a Lynch tip and a Kings Mountain error to close the set.

The Wolverines also took early control of the fourth set and led throughout, building an 18-13 edge. There, a Lynch kill and back-to-back aces by Reagan Waddell made it 21-13. Kings Mountain closed to within 22-15 before a Lynch kill, an Ashley Love kill and a Lynch ace ended the set and match.

Love, who returned to middle hitter for Wednesday’s match and stayed there Thursday, had 12 kills, 22 digs and two aces. Waddell had 16 kills, 22 digs and two aces, with Lynch playing more outside and finishing with 15 kills, eight digs and four aces. Kendall Hall had 32 digs and Savannah Ross had 45 assists and two aces.

Polk County travels to Owen on Tuesday before hosting Hendersonville on Thursday for a key conference match.