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Lady Devil Kiersten Smith sets the ball as her teammates Haileigh Woodard and Rylee Rawls get ready for a spike.
Hannah Styles
hstyles@thesmokymountaintimes.com
Last week the Swain Lady Devils volleyball team hosted the Murphy Bulldogs at home for a conference game. The first set looked bad for the Devils with Murphy taking the set 25-13, but Swain didn’t stay down long, as they fought their way back winning the 2nd 25-17. The 3rd and 4th sets put fans on the edge of their seats as Murphy won the 3rd 25-13 but the Lady Devils refused to give up, clawing out the 25-21 win in the 4th set. Going into the 5th set both teams were tied 2-2 and stayed neck and neck throughout the rest of the game.
Highlights
The 2nd set began with a block by Gracie Sutton giving the Lady Devils the first point. With the score tied 10-10 in the 2nd, Kennedy Anthony got an ace followed shortly after by another ace by Kaley Parker. With the score 22-17, Haileigh Woodard blocked a spike from Murphy giving Swain another point.
In the nail biting 4th set Woodard got another block bringing the score to 12-7, and got another block with assistance from Kinsley Hyatt later on in the 4th. With the teams tied 20-20, Gracie Sutton got a kill bringing the game to 21-20.
The final tiebreaker set began with Kinsley Hyatt blocking a Murphy attempt before Kennedy Anthony got a kill later followed by two more impressive kills by Gracie Sutton for the final kill for Swain, winning the set by two points, 18-16. The Lady Devils won the match 3-2 after a tough comeback game.
After the game Maxpreps named Gracie Sutton’s finisher the #1 Best Kill of the Week for the state of NC for the week of September 4th! The Lady Devils have had two away losses since with Cherokee on September 8 with a 3-1 loss and against Franklin on Monday for a 3-0 loss. Swain will play at home on Thursday against Highlands for a non-conference game.
JV Volleyball
On September 8, Swain’s JV volleyball team played away at Cherokee for a 2-0 win against the Lady Braves. The first set went to the Devils, as they won 25-21 and the final set ended with the Lady Devils up eight points with 25-17.
Swain traveled to Franklin on Monday, but suffered a 2-0 loss against the Panthers. On Thursday they will take on the Highland Highlanders at home.