District dream ended

By: Greg Bird

The Lady Raiders played perhaps their best game of the season Monday night in the opening round of the 48th District Tournament in Wayne County, but just couldn’t withstand a relentless Wayne County attack, and fell in their final game of the season 3-1.

McCreary dominated the first game of the best-of-5 match, with an impressive front-line attack, clean digs and accurate passing that kept the Lady Cardinals on their heels throughout the game.

The Lady Raiders unleashed a total of 10 kills in the game, with Paige Neal, Emily Howard, Megan Waters and Brooke Stephens all putting the ball away against a stunned Wayne County defense and took an early lead in the match with a 25-16 win.

The win pumped up the McCreary sideline, but the Lady Cardinals came out for game 2 with a renewed intensity that made it a close game throughout.

Both squads traded points in the opening minutes of the game as they prodded their opponents for weak spots. Neither team was able to gain a clear edge as they traded the lead back and forth, never holding more of a 2–point advantage at any point.

The turning point seemed to come near the end of the game: McCreary was in the middle of a 3-0 run, retaking the lead, when Wayne County called a time out, stopping the Raiders’ momentum.

Coming out of the time out, the Cardinals broke the McCreary serve and cut the lead down to 1-point, 19-18.

Both teams played at a high level of intensity with each volley sending cheers through the stands, but the Lady Cardinals gained an edge. Winning 7 of the next 14 points, the Cardinals managed to tie the match with a 25-23 win.

Perhaps stunned by the Wayne County rally, McCreary struggled throughout the third game, committing 11 errors, allowing the Lady Cardinals to cruise to a 25-13 win and take a 2-1 advantage in the match.

The Lady Raiders needed a win in game 4 if they hoped to keep their dream alive and force a fifth and final game in the match.

Reinvigorated, McCreary jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead on a Waters kill and a Wayne County error, but the Lady Cardinals answered with an 8-1 run lead. The Lady Raiders clawed back into contention, winning 7 of the next 9 points to tie the game at 10-10 on a Brooke Ross ace.

The Cardinals, again, went on a small run, opening up a 7-point lead, but the Lady Raiders started to fight back. After a Kaitlyn Burchett ace pulled McCreary back to within 3-points of the lead, 21-18, another Wayne County time out killed any momentum the Lady Raiders had built up.

Wayne County would close out the match by winning 4 of the next 5 points, taking the deciding game, 25-19.

Coach Robert Jones praised his team for the effort they put forth in the match.

“They left it all on the court, they have noting to be ashamed of,” he said after the game.

“We played our hearts out in the first game, but just couldn’t keep up the intensity. Wayne County started pushing back and we made a few mental mistakes and let them take the momentum away.”

“It was a tough loss, District contests are always intense, and we had the opportunity to win, but some of the bounces just didn’t go our way.”

“Hopefully, the players we have coming back learned a lot tonight and will be able to build on it and come back stronger next season.’

Seniors Paige Neal and Emily Howard were named to the All Tournament Team following the Championship match Tuesday night.

McCreary ended their season with an 11-13 record.