The Georgetown Lady G-Men volleyball team took a brief step out of conference play on Wednesday, Oct. 7 for the first time since a three-set win over Ripley last month.
Yet again, Georgetown found themselves in a battle with a Southern Hills Athletic Conference opponent when they welcomed the Fayetteville Lady Rockets to Brian Grant Gymnasium.
Unlike the match against the Lady Jays, however, this contest did not go Georgetown’s way.
The team found itself trailing 21-14 in the first set, but put together an impressive rally to win 25-23, outscoring the Rockets 11-2 to finish the frame.
Head coach Sue Lane said her team communicated well in that first set, which is why they were able to rally back for the victory.
“I believe that our biggest thing is that when we play together, we talk and we communicate, we’re an awesome team,” Lane said. “When we stop talking, we shut down. Then we lose six or seven points and we have to battle back again. They’ve got a lot of heart but we’re trying to pull together.”
The second set started much like the first. Fayetteville jumped out to an 8-5 lead and expanded it to 16-7 at one point. Lane called timeout and the Lady G-Men went on a bit of a run, cutting the lead to seven at 21-14. That point was where the comeback began in the first set, but in the second set, things did not fall the same way. The Rockets won 25-16 to even the match at one set apiece.
Fayetteville again jumped out to a large lead in the third set of the match, leading 24-14. The Lady G-Men rallied again, cutting the lead to four, but came up just short. Fayetteville won the third set 25-22 and the fourth 25-16 to take the match 3-1.
Lane saw a few things she liked from her squad in the match, but also noted there is one thing in particular the team has to improve on.
“I thought we blocked really well,” Lane said. “Our biggest thing is we have to square up and face the net. We like to turn our backs to the net because when you have a 6-foot-2-inch blocker and you hit it over, where will it go? Right into her hands. I thought our passes were great and I thought our serves were great.”
The day before the team’s showdown with the Lady Rockets, Georgetown squared off against Williamsburg in a conference match up with the Wildcats.
The team got swept in that contest, falling 25-10, 25-22 and 25-12 to a Lady Wildcat squad whose only loss so far this season came in three sets to Princeton in their second game of the year. Williamsburg lost that game 25-16, 12-25, 26-24 in the second game of the tri-match with Summit Country Day.
Lane said she liked how competitive her team was in that second set, especially given the level of competition they faced.
“They were on fire,” Lane said. “They were eating up all the passes, everything. I was so proud of them.”
Lane also noted that she believed the level of competition plays a role in how her team plays the game.
“I was actually thrilled because the second set we lost 25-22,” Lane said. “They played great. It seems like, and this is nothing against Fayetteville because I love Fayetteville to death, but it seems like if we have someone that we know is a powerhouse team we’re playing against we play harder and if we have one that’s on our level we take it down a notch.”
The Lady G-Men have two more matches left in the season, both on the road. The team travels to Clermont Northeastern to face the 14-3 Lady Rockets Tuesday, Oct. 13 with the regular-season finale coming two days later on Oct. 15 against Blanchester.
