August 29, 2024 – Isabella Grieser had 7 kills and 5 digs, Carleigh Whitson added 4 aces and 14 digs, but it was not enough to overcome the Sandhills Community College Flyers in this season’s home opener, as your Davidson-Davie Storm lost in 3 sets (18-25, 15-25, 10-25) on Wednesday night at Brinkley Gym.
Davidson-Davie fell to 0-2 on the season, previously losing to the Cleveland Community College Yetis on Monday night.
The Storm were able to get off to an early 9-3 lead in the first set, kick-started by Mackenzie Roach’s first of two aces in this game. Roach also assisted on a kill by Haley Peace, and Grieser gave an impressive dig, one of her 14, that led to another point by the Storm in this beginning run. Logann Beaver then had a kill, assisted by Roach, which led to another Peace kill, causing the Flyers to call a timeout.
That timeout was beneficial for the Flyers, as they were able to narrow the deficit 9-6 before another Haley Peace kill. Grieser had her first of seven kills assisted by Mackenzie Roach, who had 14 assists on the game, to make the score 12-9. Beaver and Lucy Lockwood also had a combined block to secure a point for the Storm. Lockwood ended up having 4.5 blocks in the game. Beaver also added a kill to her stat line, she ended up having three.
The Storm were up 15-12 before the Flyers went on a 13-3 run to close out the set 18-25. The Flyers started to use their size and athleticism to block our attacks and tip over our blocks, making for a hard-fought second half of the first set.
The second set began with the Flyers taking a 2-4 lead before Whitson hit the second of her four aces of the game and her first of three in succession. This run gave the Storm a 5-4 lead. The Flyers then went on an 8-1 run, causing the Storm to have to call a timeout after falling 6-12. While the set ended up being a 15-25 loss for the Storm, Whitson had four digs and Grieser had five digs, making for good defensive performances from them. Emma Davis also added an ace, and Lockwood added a kill.
The third set started out rough for the Storm, with the Flyers jumping out to a quick 7-1 lead, which led to a Storm timeout. The Flyers were up 9-2 when an ace by Roach seemed to breathe some life into the team. Beaver also added another kill to her statline assisted by Roach. Grieser then went on a rampage when the Storm were down 4-12, hitting three kills back-to-back-to-back, all assisted by Roach. After this sequence, however, the Storm were not able to overcome the deficit, giving up a 13-3 run to fall 10-25 in the third and final set. Roach had five assists in this set, and Whitson had three digs.
The Storm will next face the Cleveland Community College Yetis at Brinkley Gym on Tuesday, September 3, at 7:00 p.m.