Lady Pioneers roll at Smyrna
Brent Carden photos - The Lady Pioneers, pictured in a previous road game, won in straight sets at Smyrna Thursday night.
A rough start to the week didn't turn into a rough week for the Lady Pioneers.
Warren County bounced back in a big way Thursday night, going on the road and sweeping Smyrna 25-16, 25-11 and 25-17 to pick up another important District 7-AAA victory. The win snapped a two-match skid and improved the Lady Pioneers to 4-2 overall and 3-1 in district play through the first two weeks of the season.
After losses to Coffee County and Cookeville on back-to-back nights earlier in the week, the Lady Pioneers were determined to look more like themselves against Smyrna.
“The girls really came in determined to turn this week around tonight,” said coach Erin Blalock. “Our serve receive was much better tonight and it showed in how we were able to execute our style of play.”
Improved serve receive was particularly encouraging after it had been one of the areas Blalock identified as a problem following Monday's loss at Coffee County. Warren County struggled to consistently get into its offense against the Lady Raiders, then followed with a better effort Tuesday against Cookeville despite suffering its first district loss.
Against Smyrna, the Lady Pioneers were able to get back to what had worked during their 3-0 start to the season.
Warren County controlled the opening set, then turned in its most dominant set of the night in the second. The Lady Pioneers never allowed Smyrna to make a serious push in the finale either, with the final point exemplifying the team's ability to never get satisfied despite dominating the action.
Senior Ali Young blasted a serve that almost resulted in an ace, only to see Smyrna rally and bring it back over. A back-and-forth ensued, with Young twice having to make diving digs to keep the ball off the floor on the Lady Pioneer side.
Maelee Turner also made an impressive play out of the net, keeping the rally alive long enough for Sloan Youngblood to deliver the final nail in the coffin. When the Lady Bulldogs had to send over a shot in distress, the Lady Pioneers turned to their strong-side sophomore and Youngblood went straight down the line with her spike, seeing it glance off a hand before landing on the court for the match winner.
It was that kind of patience - diving around the court, keeping balls alive and mapping the floor until an opportunity finally opened - that Blalock believed made the difference.
“The girls had to contend with a lot of unconventional returned balls but worked to keep every ball up and never gave up on it,” said Blalock.
Accuracy with passing also gave Warren County more options offensively and allowed several of its hitters to make an impact. Among Warren County's leaders were a pair of dynamic hitters capable of doing damage from either side of the court.
Aubrey Oleksik continued her strong senior year at Smyrna.
“Aubrey (Oleksik) and Brynlee (Chisam) were exceptional on the net tonight, moving the ball around and finding the open spots,” said Blalock.
Like each of its wins this season, Thursday's sweep turned into a true team effort, with big plays coming from all around the court.
“Natalie (Payne) had several big blocks when we needed them,” said Blalock. “The back line defense played much better tonight and kept the match going in our favor.”
Thursday's victory gave Warren County an encouraging finish to a demanding stretch of three road matches in four days. More importantly, the Lady Pioneers avoided allowing Tuesday's loss at Cookeville to carry into another district matchup.
“It was another great atmosphere to play in and the girls had fun getting this win,” said Blalock.
The varsity Lady Pioneers will get a break from match action this weekend, while Warren County's JV squad will travel to Coffee County for tournament play.
