Lady Devils keep heat up against East

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September 7, 2012

Lady Devils keep heat up against East

Ray Schaefer For The Independent The Daily Independent Fri Sep 07, 2012, 06:00 AM EDT

GRAYSON — Russell senior volleyball player Sydney Watkins called Thursday's match at East Carter “hectic.”

Watkins' senior teammate, senior defensive specialist Kelsie Hicks, said it was “intense.”

It was also a Lady Devil win — a 3-0 (25-5, 25-23, 25-14) victory. Russell coach Darrell Adkins said his team was “improving.”

Russell (16-7) is nevertheless playing some of its best volleyball — last night's win was the fourth straight, fifth of the last six games and 10th out of the last 12. It's not quite as strong as last year's 30-7 record that included a trip to the 16th Region finals, but Adkins is happy with what he's seeing this year.

“We've had some growing pains,” Adkins said. “We play two freshmen in our starting lineup. Our game is hitting.”

And much of it revolves around Watkins, Hicks and senior middle blocker Arden Gross. In last night's first set, Watkins had four kills, Gross had two kills and three blocks, and the Lady Devils scored 17 unanswered points on Hicks' serve, which included three service winners in which the Lady Raiders barely got a hand on the ball.

Adkins said Watkins uses all of her 26-inch vertical leap. Watkins, meanwhile, keeps things simple.

“My only thoughts are to get it inbounds,” Watkins said. “I'll try to hit the corners most of the time.”

Hicks said serving is part technical in the toss — a little in front of her, not more than a couple feet above her — and a lot of mental preparation.

“Staying focused,” she said. “You have to stay level-headed. If you have a few good serves, you get greedy.”

East (7-10) knocked off Greenup County in four sets Tuesday in Lloyd, but Lady Raiders coach Cathy Harris pronounced her girls “just not ready to play.”

“Russell intimidates them,” Harris said. “I just told them (after the first set) they needed to play better, (or) I was going to put in the other group.”

The Lady Raiders listened in the second.

Russell appeared in control after freshman outside hitter Cassie Fultz's kill gave the Lady Devils a 14-4 lead.

Then, they weren't.

East started with a 3-0 run capped by sophomore middle hitter Chloe Riggs' shot that touched the back line to close to 14-7. Gross' shot to the right corner gave Russell a 19-9 lead — which shrank to 19-14 on Riggs' four service points.

When junior outside hitter Victoria Behrens' block made it 22-14 Russell, the Lady Devils then watched East reel off six straight points on Watkins' mishit and five on sophomore Jordyn Wiler's serve. After Madison Cole's kill on Watkins' assist, the Lady Raiders countered with three points — including an Ashli Smith block — to tie things at 23-all.

“I begged for them to not let up and just keep playing hard,” Adkins said. “East Carter's been playing very well. They beat a really good Greenup County team on Tuesday.”

Russell survived in the second on Watkins' kill and Hicks' service ace, followed by a 12-3 run to open the third. East never drew closer than 15-9, and the Lady Devils scored the final four points in part on kills by Gross and Sara Hieneman and Watkins' block.

“We were really relaxing, but we were determined not to let it get that close again,” Watkins said.

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