West Henderson’s big-hitting squad showed Wednesday night why it is undefeated and ranked the state’s top 3A volleyball program.
And, for much of the evening, Polk County stood toe to toe with the Falcons and matched them point for point.
But West Henderson’s attack ultimately proved the difference, allowing the Falcons to pull away for a 3-0 non-conference victory over the Wolverines at Polk County.
Get PolkSports delivered to your inbox
Sign up for our free newsletter →
West Henderson took a 26-24, 25-21, 25-13 win to improve to 16-0. Polk County dropped to 10-5 with the loss ahead of Thursday’s return to conference play at Mountain Heritage.
Polk County started slowly in the first set, falling behind 20-13 on a Gracie Carrick kill. But following a timeout, the Wolverines came to life, cutting the margin to one at 21-20. West scored the next point, but a Kara Overholt volley over the West defense and a Sarah Phipps kill evened the set at 22-22. Two West Henderson miscues then gave Polk County a set point at 24-22.
But following a West Henderson timeout, a service error gave West a point and possession of the serve, and the Falcons scored the next three points to earn the set, closing on a quick hit by Sierra Jones.
The teams swapped points throughout the second set, neither team gaining more than a two-point lead for much of it. Relying on quick sets in the middle to hitter Mary Catherine Ball, West edged ahead 17-15 before a Phipps kill and an Ashley Love ace evened the score at 17. The match remained tied at 18 before the Falcons reeled off three straight points to take the upper hand, then went on to close out the set.
Polk jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the final set, but West Henderson’s attacking took over at that point as the Falcons went on a 16-2 run, building a 17-5 lead before a Lily Owens kill stopped the spurt. But West held the margin to wrap up the win.
Ball had 14 kills and Carrick had 11 kills to lead the West attack, which also got eight kills from Destynee Galloway.
Phipps had 16 kills and six digs for the Wolverines, which also got 24 digs from Kendall Hall and 22 digs from Owens, with Overholt, who effectively scored points off set opportunities all night, having four kills, two blocks, 31 assists and 13 digs.
