Titans finish strong in regular season
By Jeff Harrison
Midwest City Beacon
The Carl Albert volleyball team ended the regular season on a high note last week with a pair of road wins over Shawnee and Piedmont.
Carl Albert volleyball players celebrate a point against Piedmont. (Photo by Jeff Harrison)
On Oct. 5, the No. 4 Titans overcame a slow start to beat Shawnee 3-2 (20-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-22, 15-8).
“We had a very rough start but ended up coming back,” said coach Hayden Robbins. “Shawnee played great defense and we had a hard time responding but found a way.”
Sophomore Emily Boyer racked up 11 kills and senior Marlee Hunter had a team-high 28 digs against the No. 16 Wolves.
The Titans had a more resounding win last Thursday against No. 8 Piedmont. They held back the Wildcats in a 3-0 sweep (25-19, 25-22, 25-22).
“It felt good to get a win in three sets. We haven’t had one in a while,” Robbins said.
The coaches were also pleased with the improvement of their outside hitters.
“Our defense and our serve/receive were our strong suits but the front row is really catching up now,” Robbins said.
Carl Albert stayed in control in the first two sets but ran into a little trouble in the third. Piedmont led by as many as seven points at 16-9. The Titans regrouped and used an 11-3 run to retake the lead. Hunter put them back in front with an ace at 20-19. Karsyn Smith brought them to match point with an ace and Madison Stuart finished it off with a kill for the 25-22 win.
Nina LaValley passed a 2.5 in serve receive. Holly Ford had 8 kills and Hunter was the leader with 15 digs.
