The South Carroll Cavaliers have been trying to find themselves early in the new volleyball season. Tuesday night, it took until the third set of their match at Westminster for them to do just that.
The Cavaliers, led by senior leader Elaina Murphy, fought off a match point in the fourth set, then outlasted the host Owls in the final two sets to take a 20-25, 13-25, 25-14, 27-25, 15-12 victory over their rival in a Carroll County League game.
“In the beginning, we lacked a little confidence, and we were playing a little bit timid,” said Murphy, the reigning Carroll County Player of the Year. “After that, we just brought it right back at them and started to play as a team more, and it felt good for us to get a team win.”
The win marks the third time in four attempts that Murphy, a senior, has led her Cavaliers to a win in the Westminster gym.
Westminster (3-1) definitely looked like the more polished team early on. The Owls, who were undefeated entering the match, used serving runs by Gabby Zajaczkowski and Sadie Clark to widen a 15-14 lead to 23-19. The Owls got a kill from Zajaczkowski and a block from Jaiden Hammel to close out the set, 25-20.
Westminster looked even more confident in the second set. The Owls had another serving run of seven points by Trinity Nelson to run out to a 17-5 lead. South Carroll (3-1) managed to cut the margin to nine points at 19-10, but Hammel kept hitting her serves to key a 6-3 run and give the Owls a 25-13 second-set win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
Midway through the third set, South Carroll’s confidence began to grow. The Cavaliers took a 10-9 lead and then used kills by Murphy and Jenna Todd to push it to 19-11. Westminster traded points until the lead was 20-13, then the Cavs went on a 5-1 lead to take the set 25-14.
The fourth set was close throughout. Westminster trailed 23-22 before back-to-back kills by Hammel gave the Owls a 24-23 lead and a match point. The Cavs fended it off, getting a kill down the line by Murphy to tie it 24, but Westminster took a 25-24 lead on a Lilly Clark kill. After fighting off the second match point, the Cavs scored the last three points, with the winner coming off a Natalie Jensen service ace, to take the set 27-25.
South Carroll never trailed in the fifth set. The Cavs took a 6-4 lead, then got three service aces in four serves by Morgan Taylor to take a 10-4 lead. Westminster managed to cut the lead to two at 14-12, but a kill by Leah Dayo finished the match and set off a wild celebration.
“I’d lost my serve for a little bit earlier in the season, but it sure picked the right time to come back,” Taylor said. “I just gave it my all. I knew I had to be smart and it all worked out.”
“That was fun,” Cavaliers coach Kristine Keck said. “It’s good for the girls to get some quality competition, and Westminster is always well-coached, and they always seem to give us that. I’m so proud of these girls.”
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