Cardinals Best Mercer In Four Sets
The Harrodsburg Herald/April Ellis
Kallise Gammon kept the rally alive with a hit over the net for Mercer in their final regular season game against Nelson County Thursday, Oct. 13.
April Ellis
Herald Staff
The Titans (22-10) volleyball team lost to Nelson County (22-4) last Thursday, Oct. 13, in three sets to one, 25-17, 22-25, 25-18, 26-24. Mercer’s net game was off and Nelson took advantage with strong across the court spikes.
Mercer started the game strong with a hard hit from Jai Piazza from the back row to tie the game up 2-2. The game battled back and forth trading leads until Nelson’s Remmi Cooke crushed a set and then rotated to the service line and pushed Nelson’s lead to 12-8. Senior Jamesyn White, who always plays smart, sent the ball to Nelson’s back corner and Mercer got the side out. White then recovered a hard hit ball from the Lady Cardinals that ended with a spike from freshman Teigh Yeast and a point for the Titans, 13-10.
Mercer let Nelson drive the momentum, but would then rally and fight back. Once Nelson led 19-14, the Titans called time out. The break worked and Mercer gained a point when White caught Nelson encroaching the net and placed the ball deep. However, the momentum shift was short lived when the Titans miscommunicated and lost the side out. A net call and lack of talking, coupled with Cooke’s jump serve ended the first set with the Lady Cardinal’s winning, 25-17.
White was lucky with a deep hit ball that the Nelson defender threw her arm out to swing at the ball and the Titans tied the game, 2-2. Piazza reared back to smash the ball, but instead barely tapped it and caught Nelson’s blockers by surprise. White tied the game up, 4-4, from the service line. Again, the lead changed hands, until Avery Robinson stepped back to serve and stretched the Titans lead to 15-10. Piazza had a kill, followed by a dink and kept Mercer in the lead, 18-13.
Nelson’s setter continued to find her hitters as the Lady Cardinals clawed their way back into the game 22-20. Nelson was called for a net violation and it was all the Titans needed to seal the win. White crushed a perfect set from Taylor Murphy and Mercer went on to win 25-22.
