IRMO – Balanced play at the net led the Blythewood Lady Bengals to a 3-1 victory over the Lady Yellow Jackets of Irmo Thursday night (25-22, 25-12, 21-25, 25-15). The Lady Bengals improve to 23-17-3 overall and 7-2 in 4A Region IV, while remaining in second place behind Lugoff-Elgin. With a 2-0-match lead, the Lady Bengals became a little bit too relaxed allowing Irmo to get a win in third match, which eliminated a clean sweep opportunity. But the Lady Bengals did a great job of bending without breaking.
“I’m satisfied with the win tonight and it’s a learning process,” said Blythewood head coach Mary Hall. “Sometimes we are under the impression that we are the stronger team and let our guard down. We cannot do that going into the playoffs.”
The first match was evenly played as both teams went back and forth, with the Lady Bengals finding themselves down early. But great defensive efforts by Bijone Jones and DiAhrah Hall helped ignite the Bengals into a 21-16 lead. A couple of miscues cut the Blythewood lead within two, 22-20, but the Lady Bengals finished off the match with a 25-22 lead to take round one.
The second matched played out differently, as the Lady Bengals jumped out to an 8-0 lead and did not look back. Coming out more aggressively, the Lady Bengals obtained their largest lead of the game, a 13-point margin (24-11), finishing off the match 25-12.
“They were able to conceptualize what they did. They started playing their positions and going harder,” said Hall. “That takes great heart and they showed that tonight.”
In the third match, both teams again traded points early before a 4-0 run by the Lady Jackets gave Irmo control of the set, 15-10. The Lady Bengals attempted a comeback on a 4-0 run of their own to cut the Irmo lead to one, 17-16, but Irmo forced a fourth match with a 25-21 win. In the fourth match, much like the second, the Lady Bengals’ aggressive play put them up 24-13, finishing off the match 25-15 to achieve the win.
Jones led the Lady Bengals in almost every category, finishing with a double-double, 28 kills and 28 digs. She also added six aces and six block assists, while Azhia Carter added 13 kills, Leah Gunter 29 assists and Hall notched 26 digs.
On Oct. 15, the Lady Bengals fell 3-2 to Lugoff-Elgin. Blythewood will host Ridge View Tuesday in their final home game of the regular season. First game is at 7 p.m.
