By Dylan Branscome
September 13, 2024 – The Davidson-Davie STORM defeated the Patrick & Henry CC Patriots in four sets (23-25 25-16 25-18 25-14) to acquire their first home victory this season, improving to 2-6. Stellar performances from Julie Johnston (3 aces, 6 kills, 15 assists), Logann Beaver (2 aces, 10 kills, 2 blocks), and Lucy Lockwood (6 kills, 7 blocks) helped lead an already incredible STORM team effort.
The first set was tight, as both the STORM and the Patriots came out to play. Most of the game was filled with serve errors and violations for both sides, so it was a messy match as well. Both teams kept up with each other offensively and defensively, with the STORM getting 13 kills in the first set alone. Lockwood also notched her first of seven total match blocks in this set. Unfortunately, after a kill from Beaver to close the Patriots’ lead to just one, Davidson-Davie were unable to convert an attack and fell short in the first set.
Davidson-Davie settled in during the second set and set the tone for the rest of the match. The STORM totaled four aces from the second set alone, two from Beaver, and one from Johnston and Mackenzie Roach each. The Patriots were not able to return our attacks, but they also had several serving errors and violations that helped us win our first set.
The next two sets were a clinic for Davidson-Davie, outscoring P&H 50-32. The kills kept rolling in for Beaver and the whole team. Six of the ten Davidson-Davie players were able to get kills during this game, which showed how many options the STORM had to set. Johnston and Roach know it, as Johnston had 15 assists and Roach had 16. Lockwood showed her defensive prowess also, getting five blocks at the net for the STORM in the final two sets, while also having six kills for the game.
“We’ve been focusing a lot on playing together throughout the entirety of the game. I think the girls did that well tonight,” STORM head coach Emma Carter said when asked what led to the win. “Everyone was doing their job and they were moving more as a unit. Our defense did well at getting balls up and our setters were making good decisions. I was proud to see our offense excel. Overall, it was a good team win.”
The STORM return to action on Saturday, Sep. 14 in a tri-match against the University of South Carolina Salkehatchie Indians and the Southwest Virginia CC Flying Eagles in Brinkley Gym. The USC Salkehatchie match will start at 10:00 a.m. EDT and the SW Virginia match will begin at 2:00 p.m. EDT.