First game changes night for Warriors
Published 10:52 pm Tuesday, September 9, 2008
CHESAPEAKE – One point, one more point for Nansemond River’s boys volleyball team in game one against Hickory could’ve changed the match.
Instead, the home-standing Hawks, the defending Southeastern District champions, ran off five straight points to win game one 26-24 and Hickory kept going to a four-game victory, 26-24, 25-18-23-25, 25-19.
“We were sluggish all night,” said Nansemond River head coach Earl Lietz, “we killed ourselves with unforced errors. Hickory always plays a solid game, so when you do that, they capitalize on it.”
Hickory led through the early part of the opening game before five straight points on libero Matt Schutz’s serve put NR up 16-13. A huge spike by Kyle Briesemeister put NR’s lead at 20-15 and the Warriors kept going to a 24-21 lead after a kill by Dan Archibald.
Two of the errors Lietz mentioned gave away two of the game points, then back-to-back blocks by Hickory put the Hawks in front 25-24. A spike attempt by Archibald sailed long and Hickory stole game one.
The Hawks carried the momentum into game two and didn’t trail after building a 12-7 lead.
The Warriors, mainly through the hitting of Cheynne Maupin, a relatively short outside hitter who makes up for his height with his leaping and good timing, got back into the match in game three. Maupin pounded down seven of NR’s 14 kills in the game; he finished with 12 kills for the match.
From a 19-19 score, Hickory gave away two points with errors, Briesemeister won a point with a spike and a long rally which ended with Hickory missing a big swing put NR up 23-19. The Hawks closed the gap to 24-23 before Archibald set Sean Duffy for a kill off a Hawk blocker and out.
Hickory rolled out to a 15-6 lead in game four. The Warriors fought back to within three points at 18-15, then at 21-18, but that’s as close as the Warriors got.
Archibald finished with 14 assists. Briesemeister with eight kills and Hayden Champigny with seven kills joined Maupin as NR’s leading hitters.
“The boys will bounce back from this,” said Lietz, “I still feel they’re pretty strong.”
NR drops to 2-2 overall and the in the Southeastern District.
In the girls’ game which led off the evening at Hickory, the host team had little problem with Nansemond River, winning 25-9, 25-16, 25-15.
After Hickory ran away with the opening game, the Lady Warriors took leads in each of the next two games.
In game two, a block and an ace by Ashlee Weichert sparked a 7-4 start for NR. Hickory answered to gain the lead at 12-11 and keep going to an 18-11 lead before NR got a side out. NR started with a 6-3 lead in game three before a 7-0 Hickory run. NR kept game three within reach until the Hawks finished the match taking eight of the last nine points.
Jordan Winslow finished with 11 assists for NR. Courtney Lowers and Danielle Gallagher had four kills each.
The Lady Warriors (0-5, 0-4) and Warriors host Indian River on Tuesday, then go to King’s Fork on Thursday. The doubleheaders start at 5:30 p.m.