Lakeside picks up difficult victory
Lakeside volleyball Head Coach Kevin Williams didn't have much to say after Thursday night's region match against rival Greenbrier. He rarely does.
Lakeside's Kristina Mize sets up a spike during the Panther's 2-1 victory over Greenbrier on Thursday. The teams will play each other again at Greenbrier on Oct. 5.
Photo by J. Scott Trubey
However, the smile on his face said it all.
His Lady Panthers defeated Greenbrier 2-1 in a best-of-three-games match. The win broke a tie for first place in the Region 2-AAAA standings between the two schools and kept Lakeside undefeated in region play.
"It feels awesome. It's our rival," Lakeside senior Kim Newman said.
The win didn't come easy for the Lady Panthers. The two schools wasted no time clashing in an opening game that saw 11 ties and five lead changes. Greenbrier eventually took a 23-19 lead, but Lakeside ended the game on a 7-1 run to take a 26-24 win.
Greenbrier needed to win the final two games to win the match.
The Lady Wolfpack rebounded from the first- game loss with a dominating 25-16 win in game two. Greenbrier went on a 5-0 run and a 6-0 run to lead by as much as 11 points and even the match at 1-1.
Before the final and deciding game, Coach Williams had some words of advice for his Lady Panthers.
"I don't know if we lost focus, but Greenbrier played well," Coach Williams said. "I wrote down on my board that it was 1-1 and to forget about the first two games."
In the rubber match, the two teams fought to an 11-11 tie. The game saw seven ties before Lakeside pulled away and eventually took a 25-20 win and the top spot in the region.
"I didn't feel like we had it until the last point," Lakeside's Amy Burress said.
Burress and Newman, two of the team's leaders, led the way for the Lady Panthers.
Burress tallied six aces, four kills, and four digs in the match while Newman added two aces, eight kills, and four digs.
Both players were quick to give the credit to the entire team.
"Everyone did their share," Newman said. "The back row was right there for us."
After the win over Greenbrier, the Lady Panthers went on to defeat North Augusta for their tenth win of the season.
Lakeside will face Greenbrier once more in the regular season on Oct. 5 at Greenbrier.