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Lady Titans snag huge win

From Staff Reports

Published: October 22, 2009

Wednesday night's tiebreaker match against the T.C. Roberson Rams was the biggest the youthful McDowell Lady Titans have yet taken part in, and they responded accordingly.
Playing inspired volleyball after a slow start, the Lady Titans finished off the Rams in four sets to secure the Mountain Athletic Conference's second 4A seed for the State Playoffs. McDowell (16-8) hosts West Meck, the ME-GA 7's third seed, Saturday at 6 p.m. The Lady Titans and Rams had split during the regular season and tied with 8-4 conference records. The tiebreaker was played on a neutral court at A.C. Reynolds.
Although even the loser of Wednesday's match was almost certain to advance to the postseason as a wild card — which Roberson did — there was still a lot on the line, especially for a team coming off a 2-17 season.
"For these girls, it was more than just a game for second place," said Lady Titans head coach Stephanie Pace. "We were playing for a first-round game in our own gym after going 2-17 last year. We played well all around. I told them after the match I couldn't be any prouder of them than if they were my own kids. I love these girls; they gave me everything they had."
The Lady Titans got off to a sluggish start, trailing 8-2 early on. But Pace called timeout and McDowell regrouped.
The Lady Titans eventually dropped the first set 25-16, but captured the next three by scores of 25-17, 25-18 and 25-21.
Pace said her team's crispness in the serve-receive game made the difference. The Lady Titans served 16 aces in the match, making just six service errors and three service-reception errors.
McDowell got solid contributions from every spot on the floor, but Pace said Hannah Lewis and Taylor Proctor helped provide the spark the Lady Titans needed.
Lewis had a team-high seven kills to go with 11 digs, an ace and a block assist. Proctor tallied 10 assists, four digs and two aces.
"Hannah played her tail off," said Pace. "Her stat line isn't the flashiest, but she flat-out got it done. Taylor had a great game; she made some unbelievable saves on balls that were tipped off the block. At one point in the fourth game, she made back-to-back, one-handed diving plays."
Mary Webb had 10 digs and recorded six aces. She served five consecutive points at the start of the second set, just when the Lady Titans needed to make a run.
Tuccoa Brackett added five aces, five kills, seven solo blocks, six block assists and 16 digs. Megan Gouge had six solo blocks, four block assists and four kills.
Tera Anderson added five assists, five digs and two aces, and Amber Fulbright had two kills, two digs and one assist.
"Megan played her best game," said Pace. "She hit the ball more effectively than she has all year. Amber Fulbright and Jessica Patrick came up off the jayvees earlier this year and have made outstanding adjustments to the varsity game."
A win in the first round would mean a second-round matchup against either wild card T.C. Roberson (11-15) or Northwestern 4A/3A champions Watauga (20-3). Dates and times for the second round have not yet been released by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.