Wayne Country Day Sweeps PJP II

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on September 20, 2016 9:54 AM

• Print
• Email

Wayne Country Day, this time, sealed the deal.

But not without a little drama.

The Chargers muffed four match-point opportunities before Olivia Dively converted a kill off Kyara Drew's assist to complete a 25-18, 25-14, 25-22 sweep of Pope John Paul II Catholic HS on Monday afternoon.

Oh revenge, how sweet thy name.

Just four days earlier, WCDS built a two-set advantage only to see the Saints emerge victorious in comeback fashion and stay unbeaten on the Coastal Plains Independent 1-A Conference volleyball scene.

"I think we probably got a little cocky and just went down after that," Chargers setter DeKiya Thomas said of the gut-wrenching five-set road loss.

"We said we can play, we can do this, we can beat this team. We came out here hungry for more. (We) came back with a hundred times more aggression and intensity."

The Chargers' desire started at the service line.

Thomas opened the first set with three consecutive aces and ended the night with a match-high eight overall. The serves floated to different areas of the court which forced the Saints to switch from a three-man to a four-man serve receive to cut off the middle.

WCDS compiled a season-high 18 aces.

Defense played a factor, too.

Thomas and her teammates communicated on every play, hustled to get a fist on numerous loose balls and constantly frustrated the Saints, who were coerced into transition plays out of system. Pope John Paul (9-3 overall, 4-1 CPIC) managed just 16 kills as a team and committed 21 unforced errors.

"It was just free balls non-stop, even on serve receive," WCDS head coach Haleigh Wilhade said. "We just pulled off the block because it was (off-speed) tips (at the net). But they're hustlers and didn't let balls drop, either.

"They had us short, deep ... all over."

Wilhade's club collected 35 kills off 32 assists. Thomas distributed 26 assists among six hitters who terminated points from either the outside, right side, middle or back row. She delivered a few off-speed shots of her own that clipped the back corners on occasion.

"Our passing struggled a little bit, but we have a great setter that runs all over the court and she throws the ball up," Wilhade said. "She mixed it up a lot. We had it all tonight."

Freshman libero Katie Strickland capped the opening set with her lone kill off Thomas' assist. Transfer Jala Holloman polished off the second set with a kill that dropped just inside the Saints' back line.

Dively's shot knocked PJP from the unbeaten ranks in CPIC action.

The Chargers (6-9, 5-3) converted three of eight set-point chances, and picked up their fifth three-set sweep of the season.

"The last set, I think we probably got a little bit nervous (at the end)," Thomas said. "We kept trying. We kept fighting. We knew we could do it and we did it."