Kate Avila
GASTON — After the Yorktown volleyball team fell in the second set of its battle against Wes-Del, Yorktown had two options. Either let Wes-Del ride the momentum and upset the No. 1 ranked team in Class 3A, or fight back and protect its undefeated record.
The Tigers chose the latter.
Yorktown (19-0) defeated Wes-Del in four sets 25-11, 21-25, 25-10, 25-13, coming back with a vengeance after dropping just its second set of the season.
After easily taking the first set, the Tigers appeared to relax, allowing the Warriors dynamic offensive duo of Alysa Sutton and Emily Hale to work their team back into the match, without much resistance at times.
It wasn’t something Yorktown coach Stephanie Bloom was happy about.
“It felt like we weren’t playing hard. We were back on our heels and not playing with the aggression we need to be successful,” she said. “So I had to light a fire under them.”
Her team listened to her message and responded by taking a 13-1 lead to start the third set, putting any struggles from the previous set behind them. The offense was spurred at the time by Kate Avila, a senior outside hitter who went on to finish the match with 10 kills, also adding an ace and six digs.
She had three kills in the first eight points for Yorktown, reestablishing the aggression Bloom said went missing during the second set.
“We knew the second game was rocky and we needed to come out stronger in the third set,” Avila said. “We wanted to come out with more intensity and grit defensively, we had to get tougher.”
Without Darian Jackson playing, other Yorktown players picked up the slack. Olivia Reed finished the match with a team-high 13 kills, and Kenzie Knuckles followed her with 11.
The Tigers fed Knuckles often to start the match, with varied success. It was her first game back from an injury that caused her to miss several games, looking rusty at times, but still producing for her team.
During the first set, her attacks seemed to be finding Sutton’s right arm in the back row as often as they were finding the hardwood. Despite not having the success she’s used to, Bloom said having Knuckles involved early and throughout the game would help the freshman’s confidence.
She was also important cog for the Tiger’s defense, finishing with a team-high 22 digs.
“She’s been out for a while so getting her back into a rhythm was important,” Bloom said. “She’s our kill leader, so we needed to get her involved offensively.”
When Sutton wasn’t trying to dig attacks, she was leading the Wes-Del offense. She finished with a team-high 13 kills, but it was clear Yorktown was focusing its block on her. Several times, she was denied at the net or sent an attack out of bounds, trying to hit around the block. Kendall Murr made life miserable at the net for Wes-Del attackers, finishing with 4.5 blocks and spurring a defense that sprung to life after the second set.
Hale had 10 kills for the Warriors.