With the East Wilkes Cardinals traveling up to Ashe for their second match up of the year, the Huskies were looking for revenge of an earlier loss in the season. With a 3-0 loss on the minds of the Huskies entering the match, a focused and determined Husky squad was able to defeat the Cardinals three games to one in the match on Monday. After losing the first game, 23-25, the Huskies rallied in game two to win 25-15, and then sealed the match victory with wins in game three and four.
In the first game of the match, Ashe and East Wilkes traded points to open the game and the first real lead came when Ashe had pulled away from the Cardinals 11-8. Ashe maintained that lead for the next eight points till the score was 15-12. At that point, the Cardinals went on a five-point run, which was ended with a kill at the net by Caitlin Elliott to bring the score to 17-16 in favor of East.
Ashe regained the lead and increased the score to 19-17 but then East made one last really and took the lead 24-22. A powerful play at the net by Kim McNeil brought the Huskies within one point, but the Cardinals won the following point to finalize game one with the score of Ashe 23- East Wilkes 25.
In game two, Ashe started out strong and behind the play of Kim McNeil and Caitlin Elliott, the Huskies were able to even the score at one game each with a 25-15 victory. In a repeat of game one, both teams traded points till the score was 6-5 in favor of Ashe. Ashe then expanded their lead to 13-9, at which time Ashe exploded. The Huskies took advantage of an ace by Kim McNeil and then three kills at the net by Caitlin Elliott to stretch their lead to 17-9. The teams swapped points till the score was 20-12. Ashe then cruised to a score of 24-15 and the game concluded with a spike by Annie Hegar to give the Huskies the 25-15 victory.
The explosive during game two gave the Huskies momentum entering game three and the Huskies jumped out to an early lead and simple extended their lead to the 25-13 victory in game three. The game opened up with Ashe jumping out to an early 11-6 lead. Ashe stretched their lead to 17-9 when good hits by Larken Mikeal and Kim McNeil earned two points for the Huskies, and the score increased to 19-9. A sideout for the Huskies, another spike by McNeil, and then another good hit by Mikeal allowed the Huskies to come within two points of victory in game three with the score 23-10. East made one final run and scored three unanswered points, but then Ashe sealed game three with a sideout point, and then an ace by Mikeal for the final point of game three and Ashe went ahead two games to one with the 25-13 victory in game three.
The Huskies placed the Cardinals in a tough situation trailing two games to one and facing an eliminating game four when that the Huskies won the match with a victory in game four, 25-21. With strong play from the entire Husky squad early in the game, Ashe was able to claim an early 7-3 lead. Ashe then extended that lead to 12-6. Ashe continued their run and scored four unanswered points to double East’s score at 16-8. The Cardinals rallied and narrowed the Huskies’ lead to 19-16. East continued to battle and narrowed the score to 22-21, and spikes by Annie Hegar and Caitlin Elliott allowed the Huskies to claim the game victory and the match victory with the 25-21 victory in game four and then the 3-1 victory in the match.
Coach Laura Foster, the Huskies head coach was ecstatic following the victory over East Wilkes and stated: “I was extremely pleased with our performance. I thought we communicated well with each other throughout the entire match. I was very proud of how we played through tough situations. We played as good as we have played all season. We did a lot of good things this match. I am proud of their efforts.” The Huskies and Cardinals split matches this year with East Wilkes claiming the victory in their first match up with a score of 3-0, but then the Huskies won this match with a score of 3-1.
Following the match on Monday, the Huskies returned to MVAC play on Tuesday with a trip to Forbush High School. The Huskies faced a tough opponent with the Falcons and Forbush showed their strengths to cruise to a 3-1 victory. The highlight of the match for the Huskies came in game two when a good team effort led to the Huskies defeating the Falcons in a close game, 27-25.
Ashe struggled throughout the rest of the game and Forbush took advantage by winning games one, three, and four. Game one featured the Falcons winning easily 25-13, but Ashe battled back in game two with a close contest and pulling away late in the game to win 27-25. The loss in game two woke the Falcons and they won game three with a score of 25-11 and then finalized the match with a victory in game four, 25-13.
Following the match on Tuesday, Coach Laura Foster for the Huskies commented on the play of her team by commenting: “I am pleased with how we are playing. We just need to continue playing well n as we have two very critical conference games on the road next week.”
The Huskies returned to action on Thursday when they hosted the Oak Hill Warriors in a non-conference match up. Results were unavailable at press time. Next week, the Huskies will return to MVAC play with two tough matches on the road. On Tuesday, the Huskies will journey to Wilkes County for a match with the Wilkes Central Eagles. The first match up between the Huskies and the Eagles this year ended in favor of the Eagles 3-0. The match score was unjust to the Huskies seeing as Ashe only lost each game by mere points.
On Thursday, Ashe once again faces a tough MVAC opponent in the Surry Central Golden Eagles. In the first match up, the Huskies battled back from trailing Central early in the match to win the match with wins in games four and five. Best of luck to the Huskies in the upcoming tough week.
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