BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Hope Christian Academy’s volleyball team went 2-2 to reach the consolation championship match, where it lost 2-1 (22-25, 25-20, 15-9) to Cedar Key at the Oct. 4 Dig Pink Tournament at Northside Christian Academy.
The Lions began play with a 2-0 (25-9, 25-14) win over Hawthorne, getting four kills and two blocks from Addy Wilson. Loralai Green and Mackenzie McRaney had five and three service aces, respectively.
Hope got 13 blocks, eight kills, four aces and three digs from Wilson in a 2-1 (14-25, 25-22, 15-10) loss to Cedar Key.
Green, Wilson and Brianna Bradshaw each had one kill late in the first set with Mackenzie McRaney serving to take a 24-11 lead before eventually getting the 25-14 win.
The Lions trailed 18-14 before scoring five straight points with Brooke Parrish serving, but Hope couldn’t hang onto the lead as the Sharks would win by three points.
Hope held an early lead in the third set, but Cedar Key got two aces from Julia Steve and three kills from Paisley Hall during a 9-0 run that put the Sharks up 11-4.
Wilson scored points off an ace, a kill and a tip to help Hope pull to withing 12-9, but the Lions couldn’t overtake the Sharks, who won the match on a Maina DeHaven kill.
Bradshaw finished the match with five kills, while Green and McRaney each had three aces.
Hope next played Crossroads, winning 2-1 (22-25, 25-17, 15-7).
Two kills from Wilson and one each from Bradshaw and Allyssa Wilson helped the Lions take an 18-11 lead in the second set, while an Addy Wilson ace and a Green tip later made it 20-11.
Green ended the set with a kill to force a tiebreaker set.
Hope had a 5-3 lead in the third set before scoring four straight points with Allyssa Wilson serving. Wilson had two aces during the span, which also included a kill each from Bradshaw and Breanna Odom.
The Lions led 12-7 before scoring the final three points with Bradshaw serving, giving Hope the win and putting the Lions into position to reach either the championship match or consolation match.
Addy Wilson had five aces, four blocks and three kills. Bradshaw also had three kills, while Allyssa Wilson and McRaney had four and three aces, respectively.
Hilliard proved to be too much for the Lions in their next match, which the Flashes won 2-0 (25-6, 25-11). Hope received a blow in the second set when it lost Green to an injury.
Addy Wilson recorded five blocks and two kills.
The loss put the Lions into the consolation match against Cedar Key. Hope was able to take the first set, but then dropped two straight to lose 2-1 (22-25, 25-20, 15-9).
Hope held an 8-5 lead in the second set before the Sharks scored 10 straight points. Cedar Key never relinquished the lead.
The Lions scored two points — including one off an ace — with Addy Wilson serving to tie the score at 7-7 in the third set before a kill by the Sharks’ DeHaven forced side-out. Cedar Key then scored three points with Autumn Zeigler serving. Zeigler had two aces as her team took an 11-9 lead.
It was 12-9 in favor of the Sharks when they scored the final three points with Claire Ryan serving.
Addy Wilson finished the match with six kills and four aces.
The Lions went 3-0 in the week leading up to the tournament, with one of those wins coming by a forfeit.
In the two head-to-head matches they played, the Lions got a total of 16 aces from Addy Wilson. McRaney and Briley Parrish had eight aces each, while Green had five.
Autumn Hunt and Odom added three and two aces, respectively.
