45th District Volleyball: Lincoln earns third sweep over Danville to reach district finals
Published 5:56 pm Monday, October 30, 2017
Photo by Nancy Leedy LINCOLN COUNTY’S Savanna Smith goes up for a kill against Danville in the 45th District Tournament semifinals Tuesday at Danville. The Lady Patriots advanced to tonight’s championship game with a 3-0 sweep of the Lady Admirals.
DANVILLE — The Lincoln County High School volleyball team swept Danville … again.
Lincoln, the No. 1 seed in the district, swept fourth-seeded Danville for a third straight time Tuesday, handing the host Lady Admirals a 3-0 loss in the semifinal round of the 45th District Tournament at Danville.
Lincoln, which will now be playing for its first district title since 2012, punched its ticket to Thursday’s championship match in just over 45 minutes, easily sweeping Danville 25-8, 25-11, 25-7.
The Lady Patriots have yet to give up a match or a single game to a district opponent this season, winning 17 straight games, and coach Samantha Torres doesn’t want that status to change in the postseason.
“We practiced all week on making sure we had the right mind-set coming in and they really showed that they did have that right mind-set and they kept it all the way through,” Torres said. “I’ve seen it (the upset) already this year and we really didn’t want that to happen so we made sure that we worked on the little things, stayed focused and played our game.”
Taryn Johnson and Savanna Smith registered six kills and Jessie Wilson had five kills in a match where Lincoln was never really threatened.
Danville (5-26) led 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 in Game 1 and was within 9-5 when Lincoln (22-5) broke on an 8-1 scoring run to take a 17-6 lead. After trading sideouts with Danville, Lincoln got sideout again up 18-8 and Jasmine Whited, who had three aces and nine assists, served out the game for a 25-8 win.
The Lady Patriots never trailed in Game 2, opening on a 6-1 run and never looking back. The Lady Admirals did hit double figures before the game ended at 25-11.
After falling behind 1-0 in Game 3, Lincoln exploded with an 11-0 scoring surge to set the Lady Patriots on course for the 25-7 win for the match.
“I think that overall we didn’t play our best,” Danville coach Margaret Myers said. “We’ve definitely had stronger games this season, but we’ve also had weaker games this season. But they didn’t quit. They played all the way through. I can’t ask more than that.”
Peyton Griffin had four aces and four assists for Lincoln in the win, Wilson had five kills to go with her aces, Smith had a block and Ashlyn Jarman had three digs.
Lincoln will play for the district title Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Danville, taking on Boyle County, a 3-1 winner over Garrard County in the other semifinal match.
“I expect a tough game Thursday night,” said Torres, who did not know who Lincoln would face when interviewed. “It’s such a high-intensity game because it is a district championship so I don’t expect either team to lay down just because we’ve beat them before. We’re coming in with a mind-set that they are going to fight us tooth and nail for the title. We’re just going to stay focused.”
As Lincoln marches on in the postseason, Danville’s season is over.
“It did not end the way we wanted, but I’ve said all season long that we don’t define success by a scoreboard,” Myers said. “We define success by the goals we set and reach. We set some goals for ourselves early in the season – some of those we met, some we didn’t quite.”
“I’m very excited looking ahead. Our younger girls are getting as many touches on the ball as the seniors that we are about to send off with graduation. While we will miss them, the future is very, very bright. We have a lot to look forward to in the coming years.”
