Griffin Christian's Katy Hammond gets ready to serve against Holy Spirit in Game 3 Tuesday at home. (Jeff Armstrong/Daily News)
It was a big win for Griffin Christian (7-0) since Holy Spirit took the home team to five games twice last season, splitting the season series.
The match went to four games because the Lady Crusaders inexplicably blew an 8-point lead to drop the first game, 23-25. After that, GC went on to dominate the next three games by the scores of 25-11, 25-5 and 25-13 to win their seventh match in a row.
“This was a fantastic win for us. We tried several plays and sets and they really worked well,” said Lady Crusaders co-coach Melanie Foster. “It was a total team effort tonight. You don’t beat a great team like Holy Spirit unless everyone comes to play.”
Coach Foster was indeed right — every Lady Crusader came to play. In Game 3, senior Brittany Foster served the first 12 points, seniors Leyah Brown and Cara Grobbelaar had some nice kills and junior Savannah Newman had a kill shot at the net to put GC up 19-4. Freshman Katy Hammond served five straight points in a late run and kills by Brittany Brogdon and Foster put the game away at 25-5.
Holy Spirit didn’t give up in Game 4, cutting GC’s lead to 17-13 at one point, but the Lady Crusaders were just too good Tuesday. If setter Madison Bertelsbeck wasn’t coming up with nice hits on the run, it was younger players Mary Kate Blalock and Ruby Mathews diving on the court for digs, propelling GC to the match win, 25-13.
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Grace Christian 3, Skipstone 1 (Tuesday):
The Skipstone Academy Lady Warriors volleyball team won the first game, but lost the next three to Grace Christian to fall in their home match Tuesday 3-1.
Skipstone, which plays its home matches at Zion Baptist Church in Hampton, falls to 0-3 on the season.
"The sets were close during the match and I'm glad we won at least one out of the four," said Skipstone senior Kenzie Moody.
The Lady Warriors are back in action on Sept. 6 as they host Creekside Christian at 6 p.m. before a rematch with Griffin Christian Sept. 10 on the road.
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GC 3, Heritage 1 (Monday):
NEWNAN — The GC Lady Crusaders won the first two games, lost Game 3 and rebounded to win Game 4 and the match over the Heritage Lady Hawks Monday evening in non-region volleyball action on the road. GC improved to 6-0 and swept the season series with Heritage, 2-0.
GC won the match 25-14, 25-11, 23-25 and 25-9. Brittany Foster had 11 straight serves, Savannah Newman had key blocks and kills, Mary Kate Blalock made spectacular digs and Cara Grobbelaar managed the front row well all night long. Coaches Melanie Foster and Charles Stephens said the Lady Crusaders had a “dominating” performance Monday.
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