Liles sets 'em up, Cardinals knock 'em down in sweep
Aug. 15—BELMONT — A volleyball novice just three years ago, Addyson Liles has become a central piece of Belmont's volleyball team.
The senior setter's chief role is to feed an array of big hitters, including 2022 Daily Journal Player of the Year Kerstin Moody. Liles did that job very well Tuesday night, recording 21 assists as the No. 2-ranked Cardinals swept Hickory Flat, 3-0 (26-24, 25-7, 25-18).
Liles joined the team as a freshman with encouragement from coach Stephanie Cleveland.
"I feel like I have been on her and on her and on her," Cleveland said, "and this year's she's finally like, 'I'm here.'"
Liles was in the thick of a first-set rally that catapulted the Cardinals (6-3) to the win. They trailed 24-18 but reeled off eight straight points. Moody had five kills during that stretch, most of them off passes from Liles.
That momentum seemed to sap Hickory Flat's will, and Belmont rolled out to a 7-1 lead in the second set.
"We pretty much had the first set wrapped up. That's why you go to 25 (points); you don't get to hang your hat on 24," Hickory Flat coach Kody Joyner said.
Moody finished with 13 kills, but Liles spread the wealth. Kelley Robinson had six kills, Meredith Eaton had five, and Sadie Randolph had three.
"When I go to set, I look in my (peripheral) vision, I see where the blockers are, and that depends on who I set," Liles said. "All our hitters are fantastic hitters."
Belmont's front line was too much for Hickory Flat (1-5), but that group did more than hammer the ball at the net. Eaton also had five aces — two of them during that late first-set run. Randolph had three aces, including two in a row at the end of the third set to clinch the match.
And Robinson had six assists.
"I really feel like this could be my most athletic team I've ever put on the floor," Cleveland said. "I really do see that they could be."
Hickory Flat had just four kills for the entire match.
