Woodmont volleyball too much for Laurens

Laurens Raiders’ volleyball head coach Erin Lake said the Woodmont Wildcats were the toughest serving team her squad had faced all season after their match on Thursday night in Laurens. She was right.

Woodmont registered 15 team aces in the match to help fuel key scoring runs through the match and had two key scoring bursts to help take control of the first and third sets in what turned into a three-set sweep of the Raiders. Set scores were 25-16, 28-26, 25-15.

Lake said the Wildcats were able to string points along during the match, but her team could not find its own offense to match the production. IN the first set Woodmont ran off eight straight points and 11 of 13 midway through the set to clinch it, then used an 8-2 run to close out the third set and finish the sweep.

“We kept a lot of balls in play, didn’t make a whole lot of errors. It’s just that we couldn’t find the kills,” Lake said.

Mackenzie Ward had seven kills and 12 digs to help Laurens’ attack, while Callie Wzorek added 10 digs and two service aces.

Laurens had its best chance to win a set in the second, rallying back from an early 8-3 deficit with five straight points to tie the score. Laurens later took the lead at 16-15, then held a 23-20 advantage – two points from evening the match. Woodmont was able to rally back itself and had set point at 24-23, but a bad serve evened the score again.

Laurens then got to set point at 25-24 and at 26-25, but each time the Raiders could not complete the winning shot and fell back into tie scores each time. After letting set point slip away to fall into a 26-all tie, Woodmont picked up the next two points and won the set – and never trailed in the third set.

Laurens (3-6) visits Union County Monday and travels to Westside Tuesday night.

LA: Laurens Academy was back on its home court Thursday night, but was on the short end of a three-set sweep at the hands of Newberry Academy. Set scores were 25-21, 25-14, 25-21.