No. 2 Bears rally for big region win against No. 4 Cardinals
Sep. 19—GLEN — Once it all clicked into place for Alcorn Central, everything changed.
The Daily Journal's No. 2-ranked volleyball team dropped the first two sets of Tuesday's Region 1-3A match against No. 4 Belmont but rallied for a 3-2 win (24-26, 22-25, 25-19, 25-19, 15-10).
The Bears (22-4, 2-1) were plagued by both hitting and serving errors in the first two sets. Once that got fixed, there wasn't a lot Belmont (24-7, 2-2) could do against an onslaught of kills.
"We don't normally come back that easily, but once we all clicked as a team ... I just felt us all working together. I'm so glad we got that win, because we earned it," said senior Allie Kirkland, who had a match-high 25 kills.
The middle hitter found her groove in the third set, and so did her teammates. Alcorn Central totaled 58 kills — to Belmont's 36 — including 14 from sophomore Mylee Davis and eight from sophomore Stella Hollis.
Hollis was also sharp with her passes, recording 30 assists. Yet another sophomore, Branna Quinn, had 23 assists.
"That was our Achilles' early in the season and this summer, because this is the first time they've ever set. They really did well tonight," Alcorn Central coach Eric Lancaster said. "They controlled the game good, they set the right people, and that's big. And they played good defense front row, too."
Kirkland had six kills in the third set, and back-to-back kills by Davis gave the Bears a 21-14 lead.
Kirkland spent some time on the bench in the fourth set, but junior Emma Barnett stepped up and made big plays at the net.
"Emma came up with a couple of kills, got some big blocks, and those are momentum changers right there," Lancaster said.
The Bears raced out to an 11-3 lead in the fifth set. Belmont fought back behind the play of Meredith Eaton and cut it to 14-10 before Kirkland ended the match with one last kill.
Eaton had 13 kills for the Cardinals, who are without senior outside hitter Kerstin Moody. The reigning Daily Journal Player of the Year suffered a season-ending knee injury in last week's 3-0 win over Alcorn Central.
"I've got two freshmen in now, and I think we're still trying to learn each other," Belmont coach Stephanie Cleveland said. "It's like the beginning of the year for us again, trying to figure things out."
