Earlier this month, the Union County volleyball team swept Newberry on the road.
On Monday night in Lake Butler, the host Tigers completed the season sweep with an 18-25, 25-12, 25-18, 25-19 win at home.
Union County, which is ranked No. 7 in the FHSAA’s Rural classification, dropped the first set but used a 10-0 run in the second set to even things up.
“They came ready to play, and we were very slow in the first set,” said Union County coach Tifani Knox. “We were just making too many mistakes, a lot of hitting errors, a lot of blocking errors, so once we cleaned that up, I think overall we played pretty well.”
In the first set, the visiting Panthers seized momentum early with a 7-0 run.
After junior Mallory Waugh’s kill got the Tigers (14-7) within one at 8-7, Newberry senior Livi Clanton responded with a kill for a 9-7 lead. She added another kill, senior Abi Clanton had an ace, and senior Meadow Moses (8 kills, 17 digs) added a kill during the run for a 15-7 advantage.
Sophomore Raigan Wockenfuss (20 digs) finished off the set with an ace for a 25-18 win.
Down 5-2 in the second set, the Tigers got nine service points, including two aces, from senior Jailyn Simmons (10 kills, 5 blocks) for a 12-5 lead.
“She’s left-handed and she’s got a great float serve that is hard to pass, and that really helps us,” Knox said.
The Panthers (13-7) weren’t able to recover in a 25-12 setback that evened the match at 1-apiece.
“We served well,” Knox said. “We didn’t miss a lot of serves, and we just cleaned up our hitting and blocking. Our four main hitters basically divided up the kills, and that’s what I call a successful night because no one had a whole bunch. We were sharing the sets, which makes it hard for the other team to block.”
The third set featured 10 ties with Union County breaking a 16-all tie on a kill by sophomore Morgan Smith. The Tigers pulled away late with a 6-0 run highlighted by an ace by senior libero Bella Johns (3 aces, 21 digs), who also had the final point of the night on an ace in the fourth set.
“She (Johns) played really well tonight,” Knox said. “She’s moving well and seeing the ball. Her serving has been exceptional the past five or six matches. She’s got a great float serve, and we can really count on her. I like when she’s back there whenever we need a win.”
Once again Newberry battled, tying the fourth set at 19-apiece on a block by Moses.
However, Union County scored the final six points, including a pair of kills by senior outside hitter Indi Knox (8 kills) and a kill by junior Mallory Waugh (8 kills, 6 blocks).
“Mallory played excellent tonight,” Knox said. “She played very aggressive. She wasn’t afraid of the block. She just went at them, and she was able to use their block quite a few times.”
Freshman outside hitter Carly Myers had 13 kills and 15 digs and junior setter Kinsley Harvey had 28 assists to lead Newberry.
“The kids fought hard,” said Newberry coach Hank Rone. “Thirteen missed serves against a good team is about 5-6 too many in a 4-set match. But the kids played great defensive ball tonight. I was proud of them.”
Both teams have important district games coming up.
Newberry will travel to Keystone Heights at 7 p.m. on Tuesday for the Class 3A-District 5 finale, while Union County will host Bell at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday in a Rural-District 6 contest.
“Tifani has done a great job at Union and after we stunned them in set one, they came out on fire and kept hitting hard shots at us,” Rone said. “Union is going to surprise someone in that tough district. Tifani will have them ready for districts.”
Junior Bayley Staier added 16 digs for the Tigers, who will host Dixie County (Cross City) on Monday, Oct. 6, for a key district game. They will close out their district slate with a trip to Bell on Thursday, Oct. 9.
“We’re just trying to finish strong and win out these games so that we can put ourselves in a good place for whenever we start districts,” Knox said. “We host districts this year, so that’s exciting for us. It is the first time since I’ve been coaching that we’re hosting, so we’re very excited.”