By Dylan Branscome
The Davidson-Davie STORM grabbed another conference victory against the Cleveland Community College Yetis in four sets: 25-22 25-21 17-25 25-18 on Monday night at Brinkley Gym. Davidson improves to 3-0 in Region X play and 10-2 overall for the season.
The STORM were led by Carly Edwards (14 kills, two aces, three blocks), Chloe Painter (42 assists), and Anna Edwards (10 kills). Cameron Ostle had 8 kills, Karrington Batten ahad seven kills and Ciara Major had six.
The first set was very competitive, as both the STORM and the Yetis went back and forth the entire set. Each team went on runs of their own to keep each other within striking distance. Ostle and Carly Edwards each had three kills. The second set was kicked off with two aces from Faith Powell. The Yetis then went on a run of their own, until Anna Edwards scored a point to stop it. Carly Edwards would end up cutting Cleveland’s lead to just one and then Davidson started a run of their own.
The STORM scored nine points to the Yetis’ one to get the score to 23-17. This run was powered behind three kills from Anna Edwards and an ace from both Carly Edwards and Ostle. Major and Batten both added three kills of their own. The third set started off slow for Davidson, as they quickly fell 5-0, and were never quite able to get out of that slump. Still, Carly Edwards had four kills and Ostle had two.
After a disappointing third set, the STORM quickly opened up the fourth with a kill from Anna Edwards. The set was back and forth again until the Yetis started to pull away, but great defense at the net caused Davidson to quickly bounce back. A solo block kill from Anna Edwards cut the lead to 12-14, which eventually led to a timeout by the Yetis.
Carly Edwards would then get an attack that would give the STORM the lead, 16-15, and Davidson never looked back. With kills from Ostle, Anna Edwards, Major, and two in a row from Batten, Davidson would go on a 9-3 run to close out the fourth set, ending on an ace from Painter to win the set 25-18 and win the match.
“Volleyball is a game of runs,” head coach Emma Carter said when talking about how the STORM handle runs. “When it’s in our favor, we do everything we can to take advantage of match-ups and keep it going. When the game isn’t going our way, we have to stay calm, reset after each point, and find someone who can put the ball away.”
The Davidson-Davie STORM return to action on the road against the Lenoir Lancers on Saturday, Sep. 20 at 11:00 A.M. EST.