Josie Duncan, of North Union, sets the ball during a match against Pleasant. The Lady Cats struggled against the Lady Spartans as Pleasant was able to sweep three sets to win the match and drop NU’s record to 1-4 on the season.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
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The Lady Cats of the North Union slipped to 1-4 on the volleyball season after suffering a three-set sweep of 25-21, 25-10 and 25-12 by the hands of Pleasant on Thursday.
For NU coach Peg Curts, the loss is all a part of the growing pains of guiding a young team.
“Together as a team right now, they are pretty young,” she said. “I mean we have two seniors that are on the team this year and only one of them is actually on the court. It is going to change the dynamics of the team. We know that we have to get quicker with our placement on the floor.”
The good play came in the opening set for the Lady Cats as they battled with the Lady Spartans early in the match.
North Union took a 9-7 edge with solid net play and some well-timed tips that fooled Pleasant’s front line.
The lead was short-lived, though, as the Spartans went on a six-point run to take a 13-10 margin.
Pleasant continued the push to stay on top, but NU kept pace, trailing by just two points for most of the set.
Each team traded serves, going back-and-forth with the occasional long volley until the Lady Spartans took control at 24-21. Pleasant finished off North Union to take set one.
The Lady Cats only saw the lead on the opening serve for a 1-0 lead during the ensuing game. After that, it was all the Spartans as they dominated each aspect of the game, pushing the score to 7-2 before the Lady Cats would receive the ball on the serve.
The service was brief, as the Lady Cats managed only one point before Pleasant received the ball to push the score again its favor. When the dust had settled from all the Spartan spikes, Pleasant had taken a 2-0 lead.
“The last couple of games that we have played, we were standing on our feet and we weren’t really playing as a team,” said Curts. “So we had a conversation about that in practice and I just told them, even though the scoreboard doesn’t show it, I wasn’t upset with the way they played, because I thought they played really well as a team.”
The die seemed to be cast for North Union in set three as Pleasant came out of the gates on a tear to go up 7-0.
A bad serve gave the Lady Cats their first point of the set, but the ball went back to the Lady Spartans after one NU serve. The run continued until Curts called a time out with the Spartans on top, 13-4.
The sideline summit seemed to breathe some life into the young Lady Cats.
Journey Blevins took the floor after the timeout and stepped up to the front line. The freshman was able to get hands on blocks. A few nice sets by Josie Duncan help key Blevins for several monstrous spikes that got the Lady Cats on a roll.
“She’s (Blevins) got club experience and she is definitely a nice addition to our team, as is Kaitlin O’Connors,” said Curts. “It is nice that she can be aggressive and she isn’t afraid to do that. That is what she likes to do.”
The drive came a little too late, however, as Pleasant completed the sweep with the 25-12 win in set three.
The Lady Cats will return to action on Tuesday at Marion Harding.