Patriots find winnings ways against Lions

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, September 22, 2009

The Pike Liberal Arts volleyball team got back to its winning ways Tuesday, sweeping the Meadowview Christian Lions by the scores of 25-11, 25-18 and 25-19.

Head coach Mendy Avant said the Patriots’ win was due in large part to their successes serving the ball.

“Our serves were definitely on,” Avant said. “I think we might have missed one serve all three games today, if even that.”

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The recurring theme of the match would prove to be long runs of unanswered points by PLAS.

The first game was tied at eight points apiece early on before PLAS (8-4, 6-4) went on a run of eight straight points to take a 16-8 lead. The Patriots never looked back from there, winning 25-11.

The second game featured another monster run, this one coming after Meadowview took a 1-0 lead.

The Patriots ran off the next 13 points to take a 13-1 lead and cruised from there to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

The third game featured more Patriot scoring runs, albeit not as long as the runs from the first two games.

With the score tied at eight, PLAS scored five straight points to take a 13-8 lead.

The Trojans of Meadowview battled back to cut the lead to 15-12 before PLAS went on a four-point run to go up 19-12. From there, the Patriots were able to coast to a 25-19 win and seal the sweep.

Senior Katie Wiggins played well at the net, something Avant said she was proud of.

“Katie played a lot more aggressively than she had been recently,” Avant said.

However, Wiggins was not the only Patriot that Avant was pleased with.

“Madison Sanders played a great game and really covered a lot of ground,” Avant said. “Brandi Henderson did a great job for us as well.”

The win helped the Patriots to rebound from a loss they suffered against Morgan Academy Monday.

The Patriots were swept by the scores of 25-17, 25-17 and 25-22.

Avant said being able to win after Monday’s loss will go a long way towards helping PLAS in its effort to make the playoffs.

The PLAS junior varsity team was also in action Tuesday, defeating the Meadowview JV 25-11 and 25-8.