Newberry sweeps Eastside, wins fifth straight

Newberry celebrates after a point against Eastside on Tuesday.
Newberry celebrates after a point against Eastside on Tuesday.
Photo by C.J. Gish

On Monday night, the Newberry volleyball team had a physical, hard fought 3-1 win at home against Interlachen.

So, after playing a pair of games on Saturday and the quick turnaround last night, it’s certainly possible fatigue could have been an early factor on Tuesday.

Although they trailed in the opening set, the Panthers (6-1) ended up sweeping visiting Eastside, 25-23, 25-18, 25-15, to win their fifth straight game.

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Newberry's Baylee Akers with a hit against Eastside's Jamya Curtis (1) and and Essence Davis (25) on Tuesday.
Photo by C.J. Gish Newberry’s Baylee Akers with a hit against Eastside’s Jamya Curtis (1) and and Essence Davis (25) on Tuesday.

“We came off a really good victory last night and today the first set we kind of started slow,” said Newberry coach Hank Rone. “You could just tell they didn’t have the energy. They found a way to win set one because they (Eastside) came out on fire serving hard at us. Set two we settled down a little bit.”

Senior Joanna Williams had three straight aces to begin the opening set and a quick 3-0 lead for Eastside.

The Panthers, who trailed by as many as four, tied the game at 15-15 on a kill by junior Mia Stalvey and eventually took a 17-15 lead.

However, the Rams rallied and reclaimed the lead as senior middle blocker Samiyah Daniels (7 kills, 5 aces) had a kill in the middle, followed by a pair of aces, to give the Rams (1-2) an 18-17 lead.

“She’s an excellent blocker, an excellent hitter,” said Eastside coach Rachel Williams. “Some of those we got stuck in rotations where she wasn’t on the front row because when she’s on front row she usually dominates because she finds a way to hit or block, make points, she’s very good. And she had some great aces.”

Following a kill by Eastside senior Jamya Curtis for a 19-17 advantage, Newberry answered with a kill by Stalvey to bring the Panthers within one.

Then, junior Livi Clanton (4 kills) had consecutive kills to give Newberry a 20-19 lead.

Eastside's Anijah Goss (12) with a hit against Newberry's Livi Clanton (15) on Tuesday.
Photo by C.J. Gish Eastside’s Anijah Goss (12) with a hit against Newberry’s Livi Clanton (15) on Tuesday.

“She’s learning how to play the net for us,” Rone said. “This is her first year on varsity, so the speed of the game has sped up for her since her JV season. But she’s kind of earned her right now at the middle and I think what I love about what she does the best is she controls that net when those free balls come over. She goes up and really dominates that net. We’re teaching her how to hit away from that block and she’s done really well the last two nights of hitting angles and just not turning it in.”

Later in the set, an ace by Eastside sophomore Anijah Goss (6 kills) tied the game at 23-23.

Clanton added another kill and an attack error by Eastside gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead.

“We did not play up to our potential,” Williams said. “We are way better than that. We just got kind of down on mistakes we were making. We kept giving them the ball. I think they’re a great team, but we gave them the game…there were a lot of errors but they also kind of gave up on themselves instead of fighting to the finish.”

The second set was tied at 11-11 when an Eastside service error set up Newberry for a lengthy run.

Senior Chloe Jones (10 kills) had three straight kills to extend the lead to 15-11.

“When one of our outside’s can just go up, we get a good pass, we get a good set, and she can terminate the ball, that’s what you want,” Rone said. “Our setters are taught to stay on the hot hand and that’s why we went back to her three times in a row, and we hit away from the tall block. We went down the line and they didn’t rotate over to us so we blew up that line and Chloe did a good job and then Sarah (Priester) had a few aces in that run.”

Eastside's Joanna Williams with a set against Newberry on Tuesday.
Photo by C.J. Gish Eastside’s Joanna Williams with a set against Newberry on Tuesday.

Priester (14 assists, 7 aces) had nine service points and three aces, her last of which gave Newberry a commanding 21-11 lead.

“I called four serves in a row and two of them were short serves and she hit both of them on a dime and they couldn’t get the ball,” Rone said.

In the third set, senior Grace Miranda had four aces as Newberry rallied from a 9-8 deficit to a 17-9 lead with her fourth ace.

“Grace came in and she hit the zones,” Rone said. “She was hitting seams for us, and I said, ‘hey, can you drop one on the three,’ and she said, ‘I got it coach,’ and she put it right over the net and you just can’t do anything. It looks like an easy serve but we’re calling that as coaches and they’re fun when they hit.”

Senior Malana Kennard led Newberry with 11 digs, while senior McKenzie Moses and freshman Baylee Akers added seven and four kills, respectively.

Senior Kieara Hall added five digs for Eastside, which will travel to Dunnellon on Thursday. The first serve is at 6:30 p.m.

After playing five matches in six days, Newberry will get a few days off before hosting Keystone Heights at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Eastside's Kenadee Johnson (21) and Samiyah Daniels (6) attempt to block Newberry's McKenzie Moses on Tuesday.
Photo by C.J. Gish Eastside’s Kenadee Johnson (21) and Samiyah Daniels (6) attempt to block Newberry’s McKenzie Moses on Tuesday.
Newberry's Mia Stalvey (13) with a hit against Eastside's Anijah Goss (12) on Tuesday.
Photo by C.J. Gish Newberry’s Mia Stalvey (13) with a hit against Eastside’s Anijah Goss (12) on Tuesday.
Newberry's Grace Miranda (4) with a serve receive against Eastside on Tuesday.
Photo by C.J. Gish Newberry’s Grace Miranda (4) with a serve receive against Eastside on Tuesday.
Eastside's Kierra Hall with a dig against Newberry on Tuesday.
Photo by C.J. Gish Eastside’s Kieara Hall with a dig against Newberry on Tuesday.

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