Passing woes hamper Lady Saints in loss

LAURINBURG — Passing struggles plagued the Scotland Christian Academy volleyball team Friday night, as the Lady Saints fell 3-0 to Liberty Christian Academy, dropping SCA to 2-3 on the season.

“Passing was our issue tonight,” said head coach Daryl Cook. “We had several [balls] go into the net tonight from the back row, so we’re going to have to fix that. But you know what? We’re going to face that team again, and hopefully we’ll do better.”

Cook specifically pointed to passing issues when the Saints were returning serve.

“When the serve comes over, some of our bumping when we receive the ball, instead of hitting it soft to our setter, was going into the net,” he said. “We fix that and everything changes because then we’re getting a good set and a good kill.”

Inconsistent serving also cost the Saints a number of points in the first set. Down 20-24 in the first set, SCA rallied to tie it up 24-24, but the Knights were able to close it out 26-24.

“We were a little cold in the first set,” Cook said. “That’s happened to us once this year, but then we warmed up. Usually, we’re a pretty consistently strong serving team.”

The Knights took the second set 25-14, maintaining control throughout, thanks to well-placed kills on attacks.

SCA jumped out to an early lead in the third set, hoping to mount a comeback, but Liberty seized control midway through. Down 18-22, the Saints mounted a brief run, but the Knights answered, winning the third 25-23 to secure the straight-sets win.

Cook calls his squad this year, “one of the strongest teams” he’s had in the five years he’s been the Saints’ head coach.

“We didn’t play our best game,” said junior Taylor Sims. “We have to start to communicate more because we didn’t play team ball. As soon as we start playing team ball, we’ll have it.”

JV nabs 2-0 win

The SCA junior varsity squad eked out a couple of tight sets to secure a 2-0 win over the Liberty junior varsity team.

“A couple of really close sets, and they got down a couple times, but they didn’t lose their fire,” Cook said. “They kept making some really solid plays. I couldn’t be happier with those guys. Those ladies are fighters.”

Liberty jumped out to an early lead in the first set, but the Saints crawled back on the serve of eighth-grader Robin Brown, taking it 25-21.

The second set was more of a back-and-forth affair as both teams exchanged points.

The Knights had control towards the end of the set, but a series of errors proved costly, allowing the Saints to win the set 26-24, securing them the victory. Two service aces by seventh-grader Calista Lewis proved to be the difference in the set.

Next up, the Saints varsity squad will host Grace Christian School on Oct. 1, followed by both varsity and JV facing Mintz Christian Academy the next day.