Lady Saints advance in TCIS Tourney
Published 2:04 am Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Nansemond-Suffolk’s girls volleyball squad was the No. 3 seed and host for No. 6 Norfolk Collegiate in the quarterfinal round of the Tidewater Conference Tournament Tuesday night.
It wasn’t a normal No. 3 vs. No. 6 matchup, though, as the Lady Oaks beat NSA on its home court early in the season and NSA returned the favor in Norfolk later.
The Lady Saints (16-7) withstood one shot of momentum by Norfolk Collegiate for a four-set victory, 25-19, 25-18, 23-25, 25-13. It’s NSA’s eighth straight win and, more importantly for this point in the season, it moved the Lady Saints into the conference semifinals, set for Friday night at Norfolk Collegiate.
The Lady Saints were consistant throughout, and they moved out to a fairly simple-looking 2-0 lead to take control of the match.
From a 5-5 score in the opening set, NSA rallied to a 9-5 lead. Good hitting at the net by Tori Dail and Kaylor Nash sparked another run out to a 17-10 lead.
With Norfolk Collegiate narrowing the gap late in the set, Quinby Hines set Kela Bogaard for a kill at the center of the net for a side out and a 24-19 NSA lead.
Hines set for 37 assists, and the Lady Saint attack was spread all over the court. Dail finished with a team-high 13 kills. Nash had nine, Bogaard had eight and Kelsie Halberg had seven kills.
Dail served up three straight aces, then Halberg and Nash won points with spikes, to turn a 4-2 Lady Oak lead into an 8-4 NSA lead starting the second set.
Norfolk Collegiate tied the set before NSA ran off six straight points on Halberg’s serve for a 16-10 lead. NSA led by four points or more the rest of the set. Nash scored four kills in the set.
The Lady Oaks showed why they were able to top NSA earlier this season by turning the action around in the third set.
With a 5-0 run, NSA took a momentary lead at 17-16, but the Lady Oaks led the whole set otherwise.
NSA regrouped and moved out to an 8-4 lead in the fourth set. NSA’s lead grew to 13-5 and wasn’t in danger the rest of the way. Steady passing led to Hines making everything easy for NSA’s hitters. Halberg, Nash and Dail each had multiple kills in the last set.
The last two rounds of the TCIS girls volleyball tourney are Friday and Saturday at Norfolk Collegiate.
NSA’s boys volleyball team (13-2), as the No. 2 seed in the conference, plays in the TCIS semifinals Thursday evening at Norfolk Collegiate.