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Lady Indians player Victoria Crotzer gets her team a point with a powerful hit at the net.
Taking the lessons learned versus tough competition in its first week of the season, the Lumpkin varsity volleyball team found the answers they needed on the court to record a 3-1 record last week improving their overall record to 5-7.
“We played some very good volleyball this week,” said LCHS head volleyball coach Haley Dibble.
The Lady Indians started the week off with games versus Rabun and Stephens counties when they traveled to Rabun County High School on Tuesday, August 13.
Lumpkin made short work of host Rabun County in its first game of the day, defeating the Lady Wildcats in straight sets. The Lady Indians dominated at the net and its hitters pounded Rabun with kill after kill. The win improved the Lady Indians’ overall record to 3-6.
The team followed its commanding performance against Rabun with an equally impressive straight set win versus Stephens County. However, the Lady Indians would have to put up a bit more fight in their game versus Stephens County, especially in the first set.
Both Lumpkin and Stephens played well in the first set and went back-and-forth for the majority of the match. However, the Lady Indians were able to show their resiliency down the stretch and eked out a close 29-27 win to take set one.
Set two proved to be a more lopsided affair, as the Lady Indians delivered a lopsided performance that led them to a 25-4 second set win and allowed them to take the game 2-0.
“On Tuesday, the JV and Varsity won both games, so it was a good way to start the week,” Dibble said. “We were able to finish those games and play at our own pace better than we had seen in the previous week, especially our last set against Stephens, which we won 25-4. That set showed that we could finish a game without letting the other team mess with the way we play our game.”
The victory over Stephens brought the Lady Indians’ overall record to 4-6.
Lumpkin was back on the road on Thursday, August 15, when the team traveled to Johnson High School to square off with Johnson and Chestatee.
The Lady Indians needed three sets to pull out a 2-1 victory over host Johnson in their first game of the day. Lumpkin won the first set by a final score of 25-18 before dropping the second set by a score of 25-19. The 1-1 tie forced the two teams to battle it out in a tie-breaking third set.
In the third set, the two teams put on quite the show as they went blow for blow against each other. Despite both teams putting in solid performances, the Lady Indians emerged victorious 15-12 to earn the win and improve their overall record to 5-6.
The Lady Indians had a chance to improve to .500 on the season when they took to the court to take on the Chestatee Lady War Eagles.
However, a slow start in the first set by the Lady Indians gave Chestatee momentum and the Lady War Eagles cruised to a 25-18 first set win. Lumpkin came out stronger in the second set and battled their way to a 25-19 second set win to force a tie-breaking third set.
Unfortunately for Lumpkin, the third set proved to be all Chestatee and the Lady War Eagles took the final set by a score of 15-5 to earn a 2-1 win.
The loss dropped Lumpkin’s overall record to 5-7.
With the team having several slow starts at he beginning of the 2019 season, Dibble is focused on having her players ready to play when they step on the court.
“Making sure that we are ready to play as soon as we take the court, not after 10 or 15 points have gone by, is crucial to being successful,” Dibble said. “In order to do this, we will have to warm-up with game like intensity and make sure that we are in the right mind set before the match even starts.”
Dibble was pleased with the team’s 3-1 record last week, but feels that the team still has some areas it needs to work on in order to be as competitive as possible this season.
“We still need to work on playing up to our fullest potential, no matter what our opponents do,” Dibble said. “Many times we find ourselves in close sets because we play at the same level as our competition. Eliminating small mistakes will help us to be more competitive.”
At press time, the LCHS varsity volleyball team was set to travel to Pickens County for games versus Pickens and Murray counties. No official results were available.
The Lady Indians will get back in action when they take to the court at West Hall High School to battle it out with West Hall and Johnson on Thursday, August 22. Game time versus West Hall is set for 5 p.m. and game time versus Johnson is scheduled for 6 p.m.