Lady Mikes beat another Greene County team
WAYNESBURG — For the second time in as many days, Carmichaels swept a Greene County team in volleyball, defeating Waynesburg Central 3-0 in a non-section contest Wednesday night.
“I think the last two days consistency has been big for us,” Carmichaels coach Ashley Shoemaker said. “The girls have had this look on their face that they want to win and are focus on winning. They are pushing each other, and we have a lot of confidence. We were on it tonight and we want to continue on that path, as we finish our section.”
The Lady Mikes (6-4) dominated the opening set 25-9, and then prevailed in the next two sets, 25-15 and 25-17.
After picking up their first section win in over two years against Brownsville Tuesday night, the Lady Raiders (1-6) were flat and couldn’t get going in the non-section game.
“We just didn’t have the intensity tonight,” Waynesburg coach Casey O’Brien said. “Last night we played with intensity from the very beginning and fed off that atmosphere in Brownsville. And tonight we just went through the motions. You can’t turn the intensity on or off, you have to have that every time you step on the court. We regressed today.”
In the first set, both teams rallied for points and Waynesburg was down 10-8 midway through, but Carmichaels ran off a 15-1 spree that gave them the opening set.
It was another back-and-forth start in the second set, as the game was knotted 12-12, but the Lady Mikes put together a 13-3 run that closed out the set.
Carmichaels jumped out to an 11-4 lead in the third set and survived a Waynesburg charge that made the score 18-10.
“Our serving has been on and off this year,” Shoemaker said. “It’s about mental focus and you have to practice serving day in and day out. We can’t afford to give points away and not having quality, serving opportunities.”
Leading the way for the Lady Mikes was Sarah Hathaway, who recorded 17 service points and dished out 23 assists. Alex Ferek tallied five kills and Rachel Hathaway added 10 service points while Amanda Brown and Marissa Krall chipped in with six kills each.
Shannon Morgan led the way for the Lady Raiders with three aces and three kills.
“We have to get that focus back in practice tomorrow,” O’Brien said. “We are a young team, and you have to build off of every game and continue to improve. We are still trying to find our volleyball brains. The girls’ goal is to finish .500 in our section, so we have a lot of quality teams to face the rest of the way.”
Both teams have the rest of the week off and head back into section action next Tuesday. Carmichaels travels to Geibel Catholic, while Waynesburg hosts Laurel Highlands.