Union City volleyball has an undefeated week

By Hayden Frampton

Sports Editor

 

Union City volleyball won all four games last week including one against No. 3 ranked Cement.

The Lady Tigers traded one streak for another. Coming into their first game of the week against Amber-Pocasset they had lost five of their last six and they managed to turn that around and win four straight. Not only did they win all four games, but they never lost a set in that time.

Taking those games was the best-case scenario for the Lady Tigers who needed some things to go their way for ranking purposes. They did their part on the court, now it’s up to the coaches to see where they land.

“We thought the best thing we could do is go 4-0 and we went 12 sets to none and we didn’t drop a set,” coach Daniel Anderson said. “I told them that’s the best we could do right there to try to give ourselves the best opportunity in the playoffs that we can. We made a strong case in the last week of rankings and now, however things fall, they fall.”

They started the week on Sept. 10 on the road at Amber-Pocasset for the first of their four game streak. Like many of the games to come, Union City took the sets by a sizable margin. They took the first set 25-12, the second 25-19, and the final 25-15.

Cement traveled to Union City Tuesday and fell flat in that match.

The Lady Tigers took the first set, winning it easily 25-10. The second set was similar in a 25-13 win. The Lady Bulldogs seemed to finally show up in the third set but were outmatched by Union City who won the final set 25-20 and the match 3-0.

“I thought against Cement we played some of the best volleyball we’ve played all year,” Anderson said. “By that I mean minimizing mistakes and trying to be the aggressive team and the attacking team.”

Hunter Johnson collected 14 kills and five digs. Shawna Rodgers led the team in assists with 11.

Union City hosted Sharon Mutual Thursday in another blow-out victory. The first set was won by a large margin, 25-6. From there, both the second and third sets were taken by the Lady Tigers 25-15.

They rounded out the week by defeating Erik on the road 3-0.

For Union City, they struggled getting their team in order to begin the season and had to adjust on the fly throughout. They knew they needed a big push for the post season and they got it last week.

“I thought we just had a determined mindset,” Anderson said. “Whether it be ugly. Whether it be pretty. Whether it be a lot. Whether it be by a little. We set this goal that this was what we needed to do this week.”

Union City sits ranked at number 11 and moving in to the top eight may be a stretch but they believe that they’ve done what they can do for now.

“There’s no doubt Cement will get a lot of votes over us, you see it happen every week,” said Anderson. “If people think that’s correct, it is what it is. It’s like I told the girls, sometimes they ask about the rankings and I said ‘all you can worry about is beating teams and if you beat teams and coaches still don’t rank you there or vote you below those teams, there’s nothing you can do. It’s out of your hands.’”

While there is a small chance they could move up to host, they know those chances are slim. The Lady Tigers are preparing themselves to go on the road for the playoffs and prove teams wrong.

“We would love to move into that top eight and host a regional, but I think that’s kind of a long shot, to move up three places in a week,” Anderson said. “More than likely we’ll be on the road somewhere, but I guess we’ll just see where that’s going to be.”

Union City travels to Corn Bible this Thursday to play their final game of the regular season.