Hendersonville – North Henderson used pinpoint passing and hitting to keep arch-rival West Henderson off balance to sweep the Falcons 3-0, in winning the Mountain Seven tournament (tourney) last week and emerge as the league’s top playoff seed.
NHHS and West won their 3A playoff openers 3-0 Saturday and T.C. Roberson won in 4A. Third-seeded North Henderson Lady Knights (24-3-1) won their 18th match in a row, over Belmont Stuart W. Cramer at home in “The Castle.”
No. 11 West Henderson Lady Falcons (23-6) blanked South Point. NHHS and West are on track to meet in the 3A regional semifinals in round five. No. 8 Enka (13-9; 8-4 MAC) lost 3-1.
In 2A play, 11th seed Owen beat Walkertown 3-0. No. 26 Hendersonville Lady Bearcats (7-13; 6-8 MFC) lost 3-1 at Maiden.
T.C. Roberson (22-5; 11-1 MAC), the 4A West fifth seed, swept Southwest Guilford 3-0. No. 17 Asheville (12-5; 8-4) lost 3-1 at 16th-seeded NW Guilford. No. 21 Reynolds (14-9; 9-3) lost 3-0 at No. 12 East Forysth.
Knights-Falcons Rivalry
The Knights beat West 25-18, 25-22, and 25-22 on Oct. 19 in the M7 tournament title contest. The tourney was at East Henderson.
West and North split their regular season series to end the regular season tied at 11-1 atop the M7 by four games. In their league opener on Aug. 25, West beat North 3-1. North ends up 14-1 and West ends up 13-2 in M7 play, including three tourney games they each played.
“Keep pounding” is a Lady Knight motto for relentless attacking with slams (“kills”). NHHS beat West at its own game that way.
Most impressive is how North led most of each “set” (game). “Once we got the lead, we kept it,” NHHS head coach Sue Moon said. “We got into a flow, and set the tone early.” The Falcons occasionally led early in sets. When down, they fought back and periodically tightened the scores. But then the Knights counter-rallied to regain the lead.
West head coach Tiffany Lowrance complimented how NHHS retrieved Falcon hits and smoothly passed to set up hits. “They ran their offense well.” She pointed out how tourney MVP Lily Marsh is the “libero,” the back row defensive specialist who transitions the team from defense to offense.
Play of the Tourney
Defense shined, too. Marsh and Peyton Taylor combined to make the play of the tournament to keep a ball in play for an eventual Knight point. And Taylor dashed to retrieve (“dig”) a would-be winner that deflected off a knight and keep it from going out of bounds. Instead, it bounced up but further back — to the back right corner of the play.
Marsh said, “I took off” the moment she saw the ball sailing back. The quick senior ran full speed to the general vicinity of the ball’s path. Marsh looked up, glimpsed the ball’s trajectory, and barely reached it.
Marsh went all out. She said she swung as hard as she could to hit a long return shot over her head. Her shot went to West’s side. The North soon won that point. Knight players and fans went wild.
Marsh appropriately plans to major in kinesiology — the mechanics of bodily movement — at UNC-Charlotte.
Triple Terrors
This is absolutely one of the greatest Lady Knight squads ever. A strong cast is led by three powerful and athletic hitters. Punishing middle hitter Peyton Taylor had many slams from all across the front lines. The senior was the most well-known Knight asset heading into this season.
But Taylor missed three weeks after injuring her right ankle on Sept. 21, in the last clash with West. NHHS won the first set and led 20-10 in set two when Taylor left the match. The Knights held on to win set two 25-18. West rallied to force a fifth set. North won the finale 15-12 and the match by 3-2.
“We knew we could sweep them” if Taylor played the entire match, she said. “This time, we did!” Indeed, the most common comment by the Knights was that they achieved a prime goal of not merely beating West again but this time sweeping the Falcons 3-0. Taylor returned recently, against Pisgah. She looks sharp. She leads the team in blocks.
The addition of Ty Case makes a tremendous difference, balancing Taylor’s inside presence with fierce outside blasting. The senior transferred from Brevard. She has more than 343 kills (slams). Senior Lexie Gunter said, “Ty Case has helped us in every aspect of the game.” Case is impressed with Lady Knight’s spirit and determination.
Bailey Rowe said, “It’s great we beat West twice in a row,” and two of three tries. The athletic, energetic junior leads the North with 363 kills. Against West, Rowe and Case each had 15 kills. Taylor had 11 kills, ten digs, and two blocks.
Rowe slams the ball from various spots. She is proficient with “back row attack” slamming. She charges to initiate hits just behind the 10-foot line to stay within the rules. On Oct. 19, she mixed in finesse taps at the net. She also went on a serving frenzy in one stretch to stake North to a big lead.
Rowe said wins like this one are emotional payouts that make practices feel all the more worthwhile. She is outgoing. When the team lined up facing the home crowd after the prior victory over West, she was the most flamboyant celebrant as she danced.
“We wanted that banner,” Gunter said of the M7 title. “It feels amazing to beat West — especially in a sweep. We knew we could do it after the second meeting with them. We just had to adjust after Peyton went down (then). We just had to focus on our skills and perfecting them. We played well as a team.”
The all-tournament team included Knights Taylor, Rowe and Brittany Knox and Falcons Allyson Garcia and Carley Raleigh.