MORRISTOWN, TN -- Walters State closed out regular season NJCAA Region 7 volleyball play Tuesday night by rolling past visiting Roane State, 3-0.
It was the 11th win of the season against 12 losses for the Lady Senators who finished 6-3 in Region 7 play and will be the second seed in the Region Tournament.
Roane State closed out at 4-5 in the league and is now 10-10 overall. The two teams will meet again in the first round of the tournament.
Walters State won a close first set, 25-20, scoring the final five points. The Lady Senators captured a 25-18 second-set win and then scored 11 of the final 12 points in a 25-16 win in the final set.
Jordan Moore knocked down 14 kills and blocked two shots to lead the Lady Senators. Mackenzie Sweigart added 10 kills while Bella Webb served three aces on the night.
Emilia Hoppe and Madison McWhorter had six kills apiece for the Lady Raiders with Haven Stalcup chipping in five. Olivia Elliott and McWhorter blocked two shots each.
"I thought we played pretty well tonight," said Walters State coach Megan Blaylock. "We were pretty solid."
She continued, "Our defense was pretty good tonight but we struggled blocking. Our block was lacking a little bit but I thought we made up for it offensively. I was pleased with our performance.
"Jordan was on fire hitting the ball tonight," Blaylock said. "I think she only made one or two errors."
The coach went on to say, "I thought Faith Heskett did a really good job on defense today. She picked up everything and I don't think she let anything hit the ground. And her serve-receive was really, really great.
"I thought she and Jordan performed really well tonight."
The first set was tied at every point except 8-8 until it was 15-15. The Lady Raiders scored two straight to grab the upper hand but Walters State scored five straight to regain the lead. Moore, Sidney Keck and Takiya Curry all had kills in the Lady Senators' run.
Roane rallied to tie again a t 20-all on a blocked shot by Hoppe before the home team got kills by Sweigart and Moore in the final five-point run.
The Lady Raiders led early in the second set but Walters State caught up at 8-8 on a kill by Moore. It was then tied at 11 and 12 before a kill by Sweigart gave the home team the lead for good.
Sweigart added two more kills with Moore and Mercedes Collins getting one each as the Lady Senators pulled away down the stretch for the win.
Walters State jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the third set and stretched their advantage to 14-7. But the visitors scored eight straight points to seize a 15-14 lead.
Hannah Freeman flipped the ball over the net instead of setting to break the run and Webb proceeded to serve 10 straight points. Sweigart and Moore had two kills each in the spurt and Sweigart blocked a shot for another point.
McWhorter finally nailed a kill for the Lady Raiders to stop the run but Moore knocked down one more kill to end the match.
Rob Harvey
Walters State Community College
Sports Information Director
Cell: (423) 779-8880
Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu
Website: www.ws.edu/athletics