Westwood's Aija Long (27) and Jasmyne English (12) go up for the block.
For the first regular-season volleyball game, Westwood head coach Amanda Kruysman said that she expected consistent team play, hard-hitting offense, good serving and better passing than they had in pre-season play. That’s exactly what she got as the Lady ‘Hawks topped the Bearcats of Brookland-Cayce Aug. 30, two games to one.
The first game began with most of the breaks going the way of the Bearcats. The Redhawks showed some excellent blocking by their front line and was helped by several service errors by the opposition. Unfortunately, the team was hurt by some communication errors causing the ball to hit the floor between players. From the beginning, the key player on the team was to be Jordan Jones, the Redhawks’ setter and tallest player. Jones controlled the ball well, and scored several points on off-speed kills disguised as sets.
Late in game one, the Redhawks rallied behind Amanda Stewart, the team’s communication hub, and managed an 8-point comeback to cut the Bearcats lead to 23-16. But the Bearcats scored the next two points to win the first game 25-16.
The second game began well for the Redhawks, largely on the strength of two successive service aces by Stewart and excellent blocking by Kelsey Keesee and Jamila Minor. Good back court play by Stephanie Keesee and the team’s libero, Jada Daniels, gave the Redhawks a substantial lead and the game two win.
The third game started with some sloppy play by both teams, including three service errors in the first four serves. Thankfully, the teams got things together and the Redhawks showed good blocking by both Keesee girls, some good digs by Daniels and good hitting by Jones.
After a timeout with the score 12-8 Westwood, the Redhawks looked ready to polish off the Bearcats. However, the Bearcats weren’t ready to let that happen. With some good off-speed shots and lift calls against Westwood, B-C cut the Westwood lead to 17-14. But a win for B-C was not to be as some valuable points were lost because of Westwood’s ability to take advantage of some free balls (returns over the net where the ball is not attacked) and an ill-timed service error by B-C. The cake was iced as a float serve by Jones was hit into the net by B-C, giving the Redhawks a first victory in the school’s athletic history.
