With the arrival of the postseason, Kenny Hall is reminding his Polk Middle volleyball squad to remain focused on what’s important.
Don’t worry about pairings. Don’t worry about trophies. Just focus on the net and getting the ball to the other side.
That straightforward approach paid off Monday as the Wolverines opened Blue Ridge Conference Tournament play with a 25-16, 25-13 victory over Canton Middle before a loud home crowd.
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The Wolverines (13-1) advance to Wednesday’s semifinals, where they’ll host Smoky Mountain Middle, the second seed from the West Division. Hall’s message for that encounter will remain the same.
“We’re learning how to have a really good game plan,” Hall said. “In the past week or two, we’ve focused on making sure we get our serves in, because we win most points when we get our serves in.
“And just warming up to the game a little bit. Just learning how to not always swing for the fences if the sets aren’t perfect and how to make some adjustments offensively.”
Polk started slowly, falling behind 5-2 in the opening set. Hall called a timeout to calm his team, and that strategy worked – Alexus Wingo’s serving run quickly put the Wolverines up 8-5, forcing a Canton timeout, and the Wolverines soon pulled in front 14-10 and steadily inched away.
At 20-14, Ava Caristo delivered a big kill from the right side and Alia Vorbe followed with a well-placed touch for a 22-14 edge. Vorbe later closed the set with an ace to give Polk a 1-0 advantage.
The second set wasn’t as close as Polk grabbed an early lead and sped away to seal the win.
“I think there was some nerves out here today with good, big, loud crowd,” Hall said. “But I’m proud of them, and now we’ll see what the next match is going to be.”
