Fort Defiance volleyball cruises to regional final
· Yahoo Sports
After more than a week off, Fort Defiance showed no signs of rust in its playoff opener Nov. 5. The top seed in Region 2B rolled over No. 4 Clarke County 25-11, 25-10, 25-20 in the Region 2B semifinals.
With the win, Fort Defiance will host No. 2 Madison County for the regional championship Nov. 10. Both teams have already earned a spot in the Class 2 state playoffs.
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Fort Defiance was on fire from the start. They didn't have a single serving or hitting error in the opening set, setting the tone for the night. The 75-minute match was short work for Fort, which is aiming to reach the state championship game for the third season in a row.
Junior Caroline Hanger couldn't remember playing a set with no errors.
"It was just great. Everything was just flowing," said Hanger, who finished with 10 kills. "All the hitters were doing so good and the defense was picking everything up."
Freshman Maddie Gale had another all-around good game, finishing with six kills, 18 assists and four aces. Senior libero Norah Anderson had nine digs and four aces, while junior middle Harper Carter had six kills and sophomore Abbi Bright had seven digs and Alexis Miller added six assists in the win.
"I think if we keep playing like how we played tonight, I feel confidence in our skills," said Hanger.
Coach Amber Pitsenbarger did a lot of skill work with her players throughout the week without any games because of a first-round playoff bye, but maybe the biggest factor in keeping Fort sharp was how the coaching staff approached last Thursday and this past Tuesday, which would have typically been game days.
"We went through the game-day routine," Pitsenbarger said. "We did our serve-around routine and we actually just played."
The coach said they had a match between starters and non-starters and some other scrimmages just to stay sharp. It helped.
Hanger liked having the week off, saying the team probably needed it after a long regular season, but she liked staying in the game-day routine even without an actual game that counted.
Next up is Madison, which advanced to play Fort with a four-set win over No. 6 Stuarts Draft. Madison won 25-19, 25-17, 16-25, 25-19. Addyson Dameron had 25 assists and nine digs to lead Draft, while Lily May added 16 kills and Kylie Morland had 15 kills and 10 digs in the loss. Addy Coyner and Serenity Hamric both finished with 10 digs.
Madison enters the match unbeaten at 23-0, but they did lose to Fort Defiance in a scrimmage in mid-August.
"We played them in a scrimmage but it was very, very early," Pitsenbarger said. "We know they're going to be good. We've ended their season several times so we know they're going to be coming for us. I expect it to be a really good matchup."
Patrick Hite is a reporter at The News Leader. Story ideas and tips are always welcome. Connect with Patrick (he/him/his) at [email protected], on Instagram @hitepatrick and on TikTok @patrickfhite. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Fort Defiance volleyball cruises to regional final