Cumberland, MD – Garrett College's 25-7, 25-7, and 25-11 loss to Allegany College of Maryland's women's volleyball team last Thursday night wasn't particularly surprising to GC head coach Brittany Jackson.
"Being our first game against their fourth game, we're going to look like deer in the headlights," said Jackson. "We've just been playing against each other in practice. When you get into game speed, it's always going to be a little hard to adjust."
Jackson preferred to emphasize her squad's signs of competitiveness.
"We had our moments," said Jackson. "I was very proud of Alex [Wolf, seven assists, two aces]setting for us. We had some nice touches and blocks, and celebrated the good stuff when it came."
There wasn't much to celebrate in the first set, with ACM's Sadie Bayko reeling off 16 successive service points in a 17-0 run that wiped out a 1-0 deficit. Bayko had two aces and Ariaya Walker added two kills during the run, which also included several GC serve-receive errors.
Brookelyn Keller had an ace and Daphne Harman contributed a kill in a 3-0 run that pulled GC within 8-6 in the second set. ACM, however, finished the middle set with a 17-1 scoring burst that included four aces by Jaidee Guinn.
A Wolf ace and kills from Lily Fialkovic and Harman helped the Lady Lakers build a 5-2 lead in the third set. ACM, however, took the lead for good, 6-5, on a dink by Emmy Wilson.
GC was still within a point, 8-7, after another kill from Harman (five kills, four digs). ACM finally gained control of the third set with a 6-0 run that included a pair of Wilson aces.
Notes: ACM evened its record at 2-2 as Joe Brewer – who spent 17 years as head coach at Fort Hill High – moves into his second season rebuilding the Lady Trojans.
"I think we have some pieces," said Brewer. "We're still trying to work on the right rotations. When we're in sync and passing well, we've been doing a good job.
"We were able to get some top recruits in the area," added Brewer. "We've got one of the top players from each of the area schools. It's nice to be able to highlight the local talent we have."
Jackson noted the Lady Trojans had a pronounced homecourt advantage with a low gym ceiling made even lower by a scoreboard mounted in the middle of the gym.
"They [ACM] know how to play with this," Jackson said of the scoreboard. "We have nice, high ceilings at home. When it's not your home court, you're not used to playing on it."
Sadie Portillo finished with five digs for the Lady Lakers.
