The Scots held a pregame ceremony for senior Reagan Malpass on Tuesday night prior to their playoff matchup with Jacksonville. She recently passed the 1,000 career assists mark with Scotland.
Andrew Smolar | The Laurinburg Exchange
Addison Johnson prepares to serve the ball during Scotland’s matchup with the Cardinals.
Andrew Smolar | The Laurinburg Exchange
Jordyn Walker (14) receives a serve during Tuesday’s game.
Andrew Smolar | The Laurinburg Exchange
Ramsey Hale gets ready to hit the ball to the Cardinals during their matchup.
Andrew Smolar | The Laurinburg Exchange
LAURINBURG —On a night where senior Reagan Malpass was recognized for passing 1,000 career assists with Scotland, the Lady Scots volleyball team advanced to the second round of the NCHSAA state tournament with a 3-1 win over Jacksonville High School on Tuesday night at Scotland High School. It wasn’t the most pretty performance by any means but Head Coach Adam Romaine was happy enough to escape with a victory over a team who stood at 9-11 entering the game but was certainly stronger than their record might suggest.
“When you get to a state tournament you have to throw records and seeds out the window,” Romaine said. “They played against some good teams and had some quality returners that can give them a chance against anybody.”
Scotland started out hot during the first set, jumping out to a quick 3-0 lead but couldn’t sustain the momentum throughout. The Cardinals responded by managing to tie the set at four apiece and then go up 14-11 before the Scots tried to slow things down with a timeout. To their credit, they did climb back in the set by tying it at 16, leading to a Jacksonville timeout. Scotland then couldn’t get it going down the stretch, falling behind 21-17 and 24-18 n short order before dropping the set 25-20. Romaine wasn’t pleased with all of the serving errors his team had during this set and the game in general, stating that it’s something that needs to get fixed in short order.
“We worked on it a lot in practice so I’m not sure why it was such an issue tonight,” Romaine said. “It really just comes down to hitting the ball over the net, we can’t continue to give away points on simple things like that.”
The second set was similar to the first in which the Scots started fast (up 4-0 and 7-4) and then lost their advantage (tied 4-4 and again at 8-8). The difference between this set and the first one is that the Scots got hot during the middle, going on a 9-0 run that gave them a 17-8 advantage. They held a lead as big as 10 (23-13) en route to a comfortable 25-16 victory that evened the game at one set apiece.
The next set was one the Scots mostly had control of but had to work hard for. After scoring first, they fell behind 2-1 and never trailed again. While that would normally mean they dominated the set, that was far from the case. After grabbing a 14-9 lead on the strength of a 6-1 run, the Scots seemed to be in good shape. When they stretched the lead up to six (17-11) it seemed like the set was out of reach for Jacksonville. The Cardinals never gave up, cutting the margin to one at 19-18 and managing to tie the set at 21. Scotland came through when it mattered most, scoring the final four points of the set to win it 25-21.
The final set of the night was very competitive throughout. Scotland held 3-1, 6-5, 7-6 and 8-7 leads but then hit a bit of a lull where they trailed 11-9 and 12-10. They would finally separate themselves a bit when the set was tied at 14 apiece by going on 5-1 surge that out them ahead 19-15. Jacksonville never gave up, eventually tying the set at 22 before the Scots went on a 3-1 run to win the set 25-23 and live to fight another day in the tournament.
Addison Johnson paced the team in kills with 28 (and had a team leading three blocks) while Molly Gallagher contributed 13 of her own. Jordyn Walker and Gallagher had nine digs apiece to co-lead Scotland. Romaine gave Nora Teasley, who had two blocks in her return from injury, some credit after the game, noting how she can affect the game from the front line with her length.
“It was good to have her back, she makes such a big impact in the middle with her size,” Romaine said. “Having a 6’1” girl in there always makes it harder on the hitters trying to get the ball over her, she definitely did some good things tonight.”
No. 7 Scotland will stay at home for the second round of the tournament, where they will face No. 10 First Flight (who advanced by taking down No. 23 Hunt 3-1 on Tuesday) on Thursday night. The winner will then move on to face the winner of the No. 2 West Carteret vs. No. 15 Western Alamance game in the third round on Saturday.