The Scotland volleyball team huddles up during a timeout during Thursday’s matchup with Terry Sanford at Scotland High School. They would win in a sweep, making it two in a row to start the season.
Andrew Smolar | The Laurinburg Exchange
Molly Gallagher goes up for a spike during the Scots’ matchup with the Bulldogs. The St. Andrews women’s volleyball team and Head Coach Alejandro Escobar were in attendance with a strong connection between the two programs.
Andrew Smolar | The Laurinburg Exchange
Senior Reagan Malpass looks to set up one of her teammates for a spike.
Andrew Smolar | The Laurinburg Exchange
LAURINBURG —The Lady Scots volleyball team has started off the 2024 season 2-0 after sweeping Terry Sanford on Thursday night at Scotland High School. They thoroughly dominated this matchup from start to finish with the closest set being the last one, which was decided by 10. Head Coach Adam Romaine was pleased with the poise shown by his team after admitting there were some first-game jitters in Tuesday’s season opener against South View.
“The energy was a whole lot better tonight and they talked better for sure,” Romaine said. “We had a few small lapses where a lack of communication caused a point against, so we still have to work on that going forward.”
The first two sets were both decided by one massive Scots run. The first set was initially tight as after trailing 2-0, the Scots went on a 5-1 surge that put them in front 6-3. Terry Sanford wasn’t done yet however as they eventually took the lead back at 8-7. Where the momentum shifted was after the set was tied at nine. Scotland would score nine unanswered points and outscore the Bulldogs 16-5 the rest of the way to easily take the first set 25-14.
That momentum would carry over into the second set with it never being a contest. Terry Sanford got the set’s first point but the Scots responded with 13 points in a row immediately after that and never looked back. The Bulldogs never made any notable run to seriously threaten Scotland, who would take the set in a blowout 25-9. Those two huge runs are something Romaine credited to recognizing an advantage and exploiting it.
“We saw what they had rotation wise on the back row and knew we had a spot we could go to,” Romaine said. “We worked a couple of areas on the serve and that’s where we were able to get those massive runs at.”
The final set of the night saw an initial back-and-forth affair similar to the start of the first set with no team seriously pulling away from the other. After the set was even at seven apiece, the Scots took charge with a 5-2 run that put them ahead 12-9. They would then take control of the set for good with a separate 7-3 surge that put them up by seven at 19-12. They would win the final set 25-15 to complete a convincing sweep.
The St. Andrews women’s volleyball team and Head Coach Alejandro Escobar were in attendance and had time to chat with the Lady Scots after the game. The connection between the two programs is something Romaine described as a real positive for both teams.
“Coach reached out to me a couple of days ago, they’re trying to get their name out in the community,” Romaine said. “He wanted to do a meet and greet afterwards, and it worked out good for both programs.”
Senior Addison Johnson once again had a strong game for Scotland, leading the team in kills with 11 while also contributing two blocks and three digs. Teryn Stanton would lead the team in digs with four.
The Lady Scots will get the weekend off before returning to action on Monday night at home against Lumberton and then traveling to South View on Tuesday for their second matchup with the Tigers after sweeping them earlier this week. Monday’s matchup will feature two undefeated teams with Lumberton having beaten Red Springs twice and East Columbus on Thursday night.