Lady Dragons open with win over Grace
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Clinton’s McKenzie Crisp makes a play Monday night against Grace Christian Academy. - Ken Leinart
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Clinton’s Darbi Brummett get a “tap back” on Grace Christian Academy Monday night in the Lady Dragons’ season opening win at home. - Ken Leinart
The 2023 volleyball season opened on a winning note for Clinton High School.
The Lady Dragons swept Knoxville’s Grace Christian Academy 25-17, 25-19, 25-22 on Monday night at the Don W. Lockard Gymnasium.
Clinton never trailed in the first two sets against the Lady Rams.
After recording a solid victory in the opening set, the Lady Dragons, thanks to an early service run by junior Keagan Skaggs, opened a 9-0 lead in the second game.
The Dragons opened a 6-0 advantage, and Grace Coach Maddi Trent called a timeout to try to halt the momentum.
But that didn’t quite work at first. After the break, Skaggs served up back-to-back service aces and added another point before the Lady Rams (0-1) finally earned a side-out, scoring their first point of the game.
Grace Christian’s Bell Jones then scored the next two service points to help the Lady Rams pull to 9-3, before a side-out by Clinton made the score 10-4.
Grace, however, would pull to within three, at 10-7, and would hang around. The set remained competitive, but the Lady Dragons (1-0), clinging to a 21-18 lead, scored four of the next five points to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
Clinton Coach Lorri Johnson knew her team nearly let the second set get away, despite never trailing.
“That’s volleyball,” she said. “It’s a game of momentum, and you can never let up and you never have a safe lead. I don’t think we ever really let up.
“They just played aggressively and they did a good job. I hope our girls learned their lesson.”
The Lady Rams finally took a lead in the third and deciding game as they opened with an early 4-2 advantage. Grace would take a 9-7 lead on a service ace by Caroline Mabe.
The set would be the most competitive of the night, and Clinton appeared to be poised to close things out, opening a 20-16 lead.
But the Lady Rams made things interesting as they clawed their way back and tied the game, 22-22, before Clinton scored the final three points of the match.
The Lady Dragons picked up contributions from all over the court.
Riley Owens finished the match with nine kills, while Josie Moody added seven kills, 14 assists, 14 assists and one block.
Skaggs dished out nine assists, and libero McKenzie Crisp had 16 digs and five assists.
Zavie Ford came up with 14 digs.
