Prep volleyball -- Rosewood sweeps WCDS

By Gabe Whisnant
Published in Sports on August 24, 2004 1:57 PM

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With four senior starters and a team made up of all upperclassmen, Rosewood volleyball coach Jennifer Cochran didn't panic when her team trailed most of the second game against Wayne Country Day.

She didn't use a time out and let her veteran squad play through the adversity.

The Eagles (3-0) battled back to eventually win the middle game -- tallying 10 of the final 12 points -- and came away with a 25-12, 25-17, 25-14 sweep against Wayne Country Day and first-year coach Juliet Pinder Jones.

"If we find it is going bad, they can get together on the court," Cochran said. "They don't need me to take a time out. They can take care of that on their own. They provide the leadership.

"That's from building from very young as freshmen."

The Chargers, who have a mixture seniors and freshmen, turned in their best all-around effort during the second game and took leads of 11-5 and 13-7 before the Eagles steadily came back.

Up 13-7, Wayne Country Day was whistled for a four-hit violation -- giving serve back to Rosewood.

Reserve junior Kasey Grey took serve and provided two aces as senior hitter Jessica Hill had three kills that evened the game at 13-13. The two county foes traded several points before the Eagles' Hannah Aycock served on three points to give Rosewood its first lead since early in the game.

With a 19-16 edge, Hill served on four points to give Rosewood a lead it never relinquished.

Jones believes her team could have made the match even closer or won if the Chargers (1-1) would have cut down on their unforced errors.

"I know we could have won, but a lot of that was us," Jones said. "Rosewood did an excellent job, but a lot of it was our mistakes and they took advantage of it.

"We need to stay aggressive at all times. As long as we do that and communicate, we will be successful."

Unforced errors and the inability to handle Rosewood's serves especially plagued Wayne Country Day in the first and third set. The Eagles jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first behind three aces by junior Kelli Gurley and a handful of Charger miscues. Hill provided four aces in the first, while Morgan Wheeler had two.

Rosewood's Katy Morris delivered a kill to push the Eagles' to a 25-12 win in the first.

In the third, Rosewood again surged out to a 5-0 lead behind Gurley's serves and never looked back. Wayne Country Day pulled to within 6-5 after a Rosewood net violation, but the Eagles increased their lead to 13-5 after an ace by Hill, who served on six straight points.

The Chargers never allowed the Eagles to go on another long scoring run in the middle stages of the third, but never countered with a rally of their own.

A solid block by Wayne Country Day senior Amanda Benton with teammate and fellow senior Laura Ziemer at the service line made the score 20-14. That would be as close as the Chargers got. A tip by junior Stephanie Rhodes got the serve back for Rosewood as Hill finished the game and match out on the line.

Wayne Country Day hosts Terra Ceia today, while Rosewood opens up Class 1-A Carolina Conference play on Aug. 31 at home against Farmville Central.