WS Chronicle

BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY 

THE CHRONICLE

The match between East Forsyth and Hanes Middle School was a closely contested matchup throughout.  The teams split the first two sets and Hanes eventually triumphed in the third set by the score of 15-7 led by quality serving and solid defense.

Set One was a tight one from the onset of the match.  The game was tied at three then again at five and once again at eight.  Neither team could establish any sort of momentum as the lead continued to change hands throughout most of the set. The Ravens then went on a little run that put them up by 3, which prompted Hanes to call a timeout.

The timeout had its desired effect as the Dragons returned to the court and brought the deficit to within one at 17-16.  Hanes had a golden opportunity to close out the game while tied at 19.  The Ravens had other ideas and served out the final two points to win the set 21-19.

Hanes opened the second set looking to set the tone early and tie the match at one set apiece.  The Dragons jumped out to an 8-3 lead. The lead got as large as eight with the score at 11-3 when East Forsyth seemed to wake up a bit and closed the gap to 11-7.  Kadynce Booth of East Forsyth was serving well for the Ravens during that stretch, but it wasn’t enough.  Hanes never relented and closed out the set by the score of 21-15.

With the Dragons carrying the momentum of the second set win, they started the third set off with a bang by jumping out to a 4-0 lead.  With the winner only needing 15 to win, getting out to an early lead was imperative.  At one point during the set, Hanes lead 7-1.  The Dragons led from start to finish during the final set and won it 15-7.

Hanes head coach Brian Smith was pleased with the play and toughness his Lady Dragons showed in the second and third sets.

“We had a shaky start, but I think we did a good job fighting back,” Smith said.  “We executed well and I think we did what we needed to do to win.  We struggled a bit, but we did come back, but seeing where we were at the beginning of the season til now, we have improved tremendously.”

Brandon Buchanon, East Forsyth head coach, said his girls have shown so much improvement over the last two weeks and the game against Hanes was probably their best showing of the season thus far.

“They played hard and I am proud of them,” Buchanon said.  “We missed some serves and passes, and Hanes out passed us in the third set and didn’t make many mistakes.  We will learn from this and get better.”