Lincoln County teaches Viqueens lessons

A key for any young team in the early stages of their regular season schedule is to improve from game to game and learn from mistakes.

Community's Megan Busbee hits a ball down between a pair of Lincoln County defenders. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Community's opponent Wednesday afternoon came to Unionville with nine more matches under their belt and with roughly seven times as many kids to choose from in their student body.

Needless to say, the Viqueens were facing an uphill battle when Lincoln County walked into the gym. The Lady Falcons took the match 25-22, 25-18, 24-26, 25-13 but the local girls came away better prepared for the remaining district schedule and with the confidence that comes with knowing they can beat bigger teams with quality hitters.

"The reason why we do that is it's a good experience," Community coach Allison Layne said. "They are bigger than we are. They usually come in with a lot of good hitters and good blockers. It really helps us defensively to get in our stance and make sure we're quicker because a lot of times we don't face that really good of hitters on other teams. And, blockers today, as hitters you have to get around the blocks."

Leading 7-0 in the third game, it looked like it was about time for the Lady Falcons (10-7) to warm up the bus to head back to Fayetteville. However, the Viqueens (4-4) had their foes keep their keys in their pockets for a shade longer, scoring nine of the next 12 points. Then, a 5-0 run gave them a slim 14-12 cushion. An ace from Kassidy Lane gave the hosts a 23-21 advantage before both squads committed a string of unforced errors. Eventually, Tiffany Davis put the game away for the Purple and Gold with her best serve of the match.

"The aspect of that game was really when we started hitting the ball and whenever we do that consistently and we keep hitting the ball, we'll win games like that," Layne said. "We just kept pushing it over and it was really easy for them to attack on us. We don't really get to hit as much when we do that.

"We had several comebacks in the various games. We'd come back from five or six down. We've got to get ready to play from the start instead of waiting till we're seven points down every single time."

Lincoln County took a quick 9-4 lead in game four and cruised to the victory from there.

Lane finished with 14 service points, nine kills and three aces. Amy Nesius tallied eight points and five kills. Davis notched six points, while Megan Busbee contributed eight blocks.

Community's next match is at Culleoka on Friday.