MORRISTOWN, TN – During their first meeting against Chattanooga State this season on Sept. 14, the Walters State volleyball team needed all five sets to come out with their first district win of the season against the Lady Tigers.
A lot has changed in just two weeks' time.
On Wednesday night, the Lady Senators came out firing and never let up, sweeping Chattanooga State in dominating fashion 3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-21).
The victory was Walters State's 4th in-a-row and they are now 4-1 on the season in district play and 6-7 overall.
"I think we're just starting to play better together," Walters State coach Megan Blaylock said about her team's recent success. "I think we're moving well together. I think we're getting more comfortable and it is allowing us to play better together as a team."
It was a team effort for Walters State as every single player that touched the floor contributed for the Lady Senators on Wednesday evening.
"I think we all played really, really well," Blaylock said. "We have been really trying to get a steady baseline of play, and I think that's what we did tonight."
Wanting to set the tone early, Walters State did exactly that as they broke out to an 11-3 lead in set number one. The lead would grow to 14-3 as Mattison Rowland had an emphatic kill during that stretch.
While Chattanooga State tried to climb back into the set, the Lady Senators lead was too large as Bella Webb closed out the 25-15 set victory with an ace.
Getting ahead early has been a common trend for the Lady Senators as they have won the first set in their last four matches, all of those matches ending in a 3-0 sweep.
"We have been working on minimizing our errors, and I think that is why we were able to jump ahead early these last few matches," Blaylock said. "We're really focusing on fixing what we can on our side of the floor, and I think it's translating into our play."
In set two, the Lady Senators kept the pressure on Chattanooga State as they got out to an early 5-2 lead, capped off with a kill from Mackenzie Sweigart and an ace from Jordan Moore. Chattanooga State would try and cut the lead but two more kills from Lydia Buchanan made it 8-4.
At 8-5, Walters State took off again as Parker Hurd had two aces during a 7-1 run for the Lady Senators that put them out in front 15-6. From there, Walters State continued to keep the pressure on and took the second set 25-17, the final point coming on a kill by Mercedes Collins.
In set three, the Lady Tigers refused to go down without a fight and led for the majority of the first half of the set. Chattanooga State got their lead up to 13-10 before a Sweigart and Moore combined block got the Lady Senators back on track.
Walters State would eventually go up 16-14 in the set and then scored two straight on aces from Webb. The Lady Senators never let the lead dip below three as they capped off the match with a 25-21 set three victory.
Up Next:
Walters State will be back in action on Friday as they travel to Hickory, NC for the Catawba Valley Invitational. The Lady Senators will play two matches there at 4:30 p.m. and 6 p.m.
For Blaylock, she wants to see her team carry this momentum over into the weekend when they face some top tier competition.
"I think it'll be good for us," Blaylock said. "We haven't had big competition like this since we went to Spartanburg, so I think it will be good to see somebody else and get that competition in between conference play."