ANDERSON–After slow starts in each match of Madison County volleyball Pool play Thursday evening, Pendleton Heights acting head coach Haylee Cox used an early timeout to hit the reset button.
On both occasions, her team responded with spirited effort and dominating wins.
The Arabians beat back a strong early challenge from Frankton 25-21, 25-13 before pummeling the host Anderson team 25-16, 25-10 to sweep Pool C of the Madison County Tournament.
Pendleton Heights (9-7) will play Elwood Saturday morning at 10:15 in Gym B at Elwood High School.
The Arabians were tied with Frankton at 10-10 in the first match and trailed Anderson 9-10 in the second match when Cox called first set time outs.
“We just needed to change the energy,” she said. “We needed to shift things in our favor and energy was a big part of it. We came out a little slow in both of those games and that helped us pick it up a little bit and get back to our game.”
In the Frankton match, the Arabians went on an 8-3 run to take control before closing out the Eagles in two sets. Sophomore Gracie King led Pendleton Heights with eight kills, sophomore Aubree Lanman handed out 25 assists, and junior Gracie Criswell had three aces.
Against Anderson, Pendleton Heights closed out the first set on a 16-6 scoring burst before breezing through the second set, keyed by five aces from Dwiggins, who also added 20 assists. King had nine more kills and sophomore Averi Lanman had five total blocks on the night.
In the two matches, the Arabians accumulated a total of nine blocks, but the effort of sophomore Ally Hall on the back row was a strong compliment to the front row defense. She had 27 total digs in the two matches and frequently chased down errant shots well off the court.
“She’s played great defense all year,” Cox said of Hall. “She ran down some balls tonight that were pretty spectacular. She does a lot for us back there, she keeps us in games and helps us set our offense.”
Senior Brinkley Gary tallied 11 kills in the two matches and senior Michele Merryman added seven, including five against Frankton.
The other tournament matchups, all at Elwood High School, include:
Gym A
Anderson vs. APA 9:00 (Winner to play Madison-Grant at 10:15)
Alexandria vs. Frankton 11:15
Gym B
PHHS vs. Elwood 10:15
Lapel vs. Liberty Christian 11:15
