Lady Saints break HRA’s compass
Published 10:03 pm Wednesday, September 2, 2015
The Nansemond-Suffolk Academy girls’ volleyball team defeated the visiting Hampton Roads Academy Lady Navigators 25-11, 25-15, 25-15 on Tuesday.
Nansemond-Suffolk Academy junior Lindsay Knierbein serves against visiting Hampton Roads Academy on Tuesday evening. She contributed seven kills to the Lady Saints’ straight sets victory over the Lady Navigators.
The Lady Saints also had won their season opener a week before in straight sets, but that match against visiting Western Branch High School showed them to be struggling with some things.
“One of the main things (was) our serve-receive passing, which normally we don’t struggle with, and last night it was back to usual,” NSA coach Robyn Ross said Wednesday. “They passed really, really well.”
HRA had only three aces on the night.
“On the flip side of that, my girls were serving great,” Ross said. “Logan (Harrell) served 25 times, Livi (Bono) served 20 times, we had 16 aces, so when we can pass their serves and they’re not passing our serves, that means a lot.”
On defense, the Lady Saints piled up 60 digs.
“If we pass and we play great defense, then we’re going to stick around with bigger teams,” Ross said.
On Tuesday, junior outside hitter Livi Bono recorded her second straight double-double of the season, with 13 kills and 11 digs to go with five aces and 17 points on serve.
Against Western Branch, the Lady Saints were not scoring many points when Bono was in the back row, but her teammates answered the call to step up on Tuesday.
“We scored 85 percent of the time when Livi was back there serving,” Ross said.
Junior outside hitter Logan Harrell had five aces, 19 points on serve and was also a star on defense, contributing 16 digs.
“She got some saves and got some balls up (when) everybody thought the point was over, and so that was fun,” Ross said.
The coach noted junior outside hitter Lindsay Knierbein had another solid night with seven kills.
Junior setter Nicole Wright continued to impress Ross, registering two blocks and 30 assists, two statistical categories in which she leads the team.
“She’s getting more aggressive,” Ross said. “She had two kills last night. She’s starting to get the brain piece, which is the hardest piece,” involving things like knowing where to set the ball and when to try for a kill herself.
The coach highlighted the importance of Bono, Harrell, Knierbein and Wright to her team’s stability and success.
“The four of them being out there just makes it calm and steady this year, and last night it allowed me to get all 12 of the girls on the roster into the match,” Ross said.
Nansemond-Suffolk (2-0) visits Cape Henry Collegiate School tonight, a rematch of the 2014 Tidewater Conference of Independent Schools tournament championship match, which the Lady Dolphins won.
