Ponies, Jackets Trade Home Losses

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Story and Photos by Brennan Waldorf

Sept. 19, the Ponies avenged an earlier home loss this season from Northampton on the road, when they traveled to Eastville last Thursday.

The first match took only four sets for the Jackets to edge their district opponent Chincoteague on the Jackets’ home court. This time it was the Ponies who pushed the limits and took the Jackets to five sets (25-20, 20-25, 25-27, 25-15, 15-8) walking out of the Jackets’ home court victorious.  

The Yellow Jackets came out hot, capturing a 7-1 lead in the first set before Chincoteague’s Emma Jackson stepped up making several plays that put her team back in the set tying the game 12-12.  She was often met with double blockers from the Jacket squad but the Ponies prevailed and took the first set 25-20 with Jackson sealing the win with back-to-back kills.

The second set started similar to the first with the Jackets taking an early 11-4 lead. Mariah Matthews and Yeats James, who led their team in kills recording eight and six a piece on the night, helped extend the lead to 22-13 before the Ponies took a much needed timeout. From there the Jackets stumbled. With only three points needed to close the set they allowed the Ponies to gain ground but ultimately put them away with the set ending 25-20.

 

The third set was a nail-bitter for both teams as they battled a close set with the Jackets leading for the majority of the set. The Ponies wouldn’t allow their opponents to pull far away and kept the game close as both teams made spectacular saves and battled long volleys. Northampton’s Peyton Sayers recorded 22 digs in the series and would help the jackets win the set, as they would zone in on the open middle court of the Ponies, wining 27-25.

The last two sets were all Chincoteague as Emma Jackson, Alanna Hall, and Caroline Shelley were all business as they focused in on capturing a road win. They closed the gap in between the front and back row where they Jackets found success in the earlier sets and jumped at the net on any given chance, along with multiple tenacious digs from the back line. They won the fourth set 25-15 with a tone that would roll over to the final fifth set. With the Chincoteague road crowd roaring, Alanna Hall opened the set with an ace and the Ponies would go on a tear, winning the set 15-8.

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