Polk County wasted no time Tuesday in keeping its postseason goal on track.
The Wolverines rushed past Salisbury in less than an hour, defeating the Hornets in straight sets in the second round of the state 2A volleyball playoffs at Polk County.
The Wolverines (19-5) took a 25-10, 25-12, 25-10 victory to advance to third round on Thursday, when they will travel to Wheatmore to face the Warriors (23-3), the second seed in the 2A West bracket. Wheatmore, who lost to Hendersonville in last year’s state championship game, defeated Surry Central in straight sets on Tuesday.
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Polk County never allowed Salisbury to find any type of offensive rhythm as the Hornets struggled with their passing, often leading to bumps from the back row rather than hitting at the net. The Wolverines often forced those passing miscues with one of their better serving matches of the season.
“We really wanted to focus on our serving,” said Polk County head coach Molly Hill. “We wanted to get good serves in and be aggressive from the back line. I felt like we did that tonight. I’m proud of them.”
Polk County had no trouble winning the first set, then broke open a 14-11 battle in the second set with six straight points. Sarah Phipps and Reagan Waddell began the run with consecutive kills, then each had kills in the Wolverines’ 5-0 rally to end the set, Polk scoring the final point on a Salisbury error.
Polk County opened a 7-4 lead in the third set, then steadily extended the margin, reaching double digits at 16-6. The lead stood at 19-10 before a Phipps kill began a run of six straight Wolverine points, Addie Lynch’s kill at match point ending the game.
“I felt like we really played our game and really played our speed,” Hill said. “Our main focus is that we can’t slow down, we have to play our game and not our opponents’ game.”
Phipps had 15 kills and six digs to lead Polk County. Kara Overholt had 27 assists, 11 digs, four aces and three kills, with Lily Owens adding four kills and 13 digs, Waddell finishing with four kills, Lynch with three kills and Kendall Hall with 30 digs and two aces.
