PALMYRA — Hannah Miller was a dominant force on attack, a danger at the service line and constant threat on the block. As impressive and well-rounded a night as she had, the brightest spot for Fluvanna County’s season opener at home with Madison County, was that Miller didn’t have do to every single thing — she had plenty of help. While the Mountaineers were able to scrap with the Flyin’ Flucos in the first half of each game played, when it came to crunch time, Fluvanna rolled. As a result, the Flucos picked up a 3-0 win, 25-19, 25-17, 25-17.
“I was happy with the balance and the communication,” said Fluvanna coach Christi Harlowe-Garrett. “To be as new and young as we are, I think this team did a great job tonight.”
All three matches played out in fairly similar fashion with both teams staying within a few points until there was seperation at the midway point. In the first game, Madison went on a 5-1 spurt after being tied to take its largest lead of the night. However, Fluvanna finished the opening game by peeling off a 14-4 run thanks to the offense from Miller, Taylor Beck, Emily Haden and Lyra Payne.
“That was the first game we’ve played together as a team this year, so with each game we’re learning how to play with eachother and communicate,” Miller said.
In game two, Fluvanna built up a four-point lead behind Miller’s block, but the Mountaineers kept pace and trailed by just four points at 20-16. Much in the same way they did in game one, Miller, Beck, Haden and Payne went into lockdown mode at the end to finish the game off with a 5-1 run.
Madison got off to it’s best start in game three with an early 3-point lead, but two kills and a block from Miller, and an ace from Haden tied the game at eight. After trading points back and forth, largely on miscues, Fluvanna built up a 5-point lead at 17-12, and kept the Mountaineers from gaining any large swing in momentum to finish out the match.
“I don’t feel like the team I’m used to coaching showed up tonight,” said Madison coach Lindsay Von Herbulis. “I don’t think we passed well tonight. We didn’t talk and we didn’t even mount an attack. We’re not used to seeing that from this team.”
On the night, Miller had 13 kills to go with a trio of blocks and aces.
“She’s just a great kid, the kind that every coach wants,” Harlowe-Garrett said. “She works hard, she brings the team together.”
Haden had eight kills, while Payne and Beck followed close behind with seven and five respectively. Setter Sammi Toy threw up 32 assists while Maddie Kline had eight. Nicki Warner had 11 digs with Kelly Douma contributing nine and Beck coming up with eight as well.
For Madison Chapat Tyree and Cameron Farmer led the offense with four kills each. Chandler Gentry finished with three kills. Jessica Schmitt had seven digs while Molly Shifflett came up with six. Setter Anna Artale came away with 10 assists.
The Mountaineers (1-1) head to Luray on Thursday at 6:45 p.m.
The Flucos (1-0) host Goochland on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
