After starting the season with two straight-sets victories over Cherokee and Andrews, Swain County volleyball dropped consecutive matches against Rosman and Murphy to bring its record to 2-2 four games into the abbreviated 2020 season.
“Murphy and Rosman were definitely both really good teams,” said senior Jenna Marr on Tuesday. “Our biggest takeaway was just not to get down on ourselves because at times in the game we were just dead beat. So at practice, we’ve been more energetic and alive, and whatever we do at practice translates to our games, so we are hoping this week to have a better outcome.”
Tuesday’s matchup with Robbinsville was postponed to Friday due to weather, and the Lady Devils will host Blue Ridge Early College on Wednesday.
“We’re definitely expecting good games because we are pretty equally matched with both of these teams,” Marr said of this week’s matchups. “We’re definitely going to come with a more aggressive mentality, because we played scared, basically. That sounds bad, but we played scared against Murphy and Rosman, and we’re not going to do that in these two games. We are just going to attack it head-on.”
Marr noted that Swain has been bolstered by the emergence of sophomore setter Kiersten Smith.
“It’s definitely a big role, coming in as an underclassman and playing at the varsity level,” Marr said of Smith. “She’s done such a great job of adapting to it and still being a leader on our team.”
Swain split its two matches with Blue Ridge in 2019. The Lady Devils won at home, 3-1, in the first matchup before falling, 2-3, in Cashiers a month later. Robbinsville defeated Swain in both 2019 matchups. Swain is currently ranked fourth in the Big Smoky Mountain Conference standings, according to MaxPreps, with Robbinsville one spot ahead in third.