Serving may have been a struggle for Western Albemarle’s Amber Parker in recent games, but the sophomore defensive specialist shook it off just in time for Monday night.
“I was just really focus on winning and serves have been kind of a rough spot for the past few games, I was just focused on trying to make sure to get them in,” Parker said. “It just worked out.”
In a critical 3-2 victory over Monticello, Parker put together two incredible service runs, one in game one and another in a decisive game five while also coming up with an incredible play in a hard fought game three where the Warriors held on to win 28-26.
“She is one of our most deadly servers, she can mix it up, she can put it deep, she can put it short, I have full confidence in her behind the service line,” said Western coach Julie Radlinksi. “Not to mention she had that save at the 10-foot line in the match.”
That play came with the Warriors knotted up at 26-26. Monticello’s Allie Cognata went with a crafty kill attempt, trying to finesse it across the court to an open spot. Parker extended horizontally, diving to her left and somehow got the ball up near the line. It exploded toward Sarah Rhea who kept it up, a third tap got it over the net and an immediate Monticello net touch on the return attempt ended the point.
“I just knew I had to give it everything I’ve got to get that point,” Parker said.
Parker’s play kept the Warriors alive and helped avoid a 2-1 deficit as they closed it out 28-26 on the next play thanks to a Monticello hitting error. She finished with seven aces as well as 20 digs on the backline.
Rhea and Abby Johnson finished with a team-high 11 kills each while Bella Plummer chipped in six kills. Natalie Peck and Plummer each also chipped in seven digs while Sierra McCance triggered the offensive attack with 44 assists.
“They didn’t lose confidence and they came out with some grit,” Radlinksi said. “We had moments where focus may have faltered but we were able to get that back.”
The win gives the Warriors a critical leg up in the race to the Region 3C automatic bid that’s a three-way battle between the Mustangs, Warriors and Fluvanna County. With Fluvanna getting a huge 3-0 win over Powhatan Tuesday too, the stage is set for a big matchup between the Warriors and Flucos Thursday.
Getting there wasn’t easy for the Warriors though, who had to fight tooth and nail against the Mustangs for the second time in six days after their first meeting was rescheduled in the wake of Hurricane Florence. Western won that meeting 3-0, but Monday wasn’t nearly as easy. The Mustangs bounced back from a 25-21 loss in game one to win game two 25-17, building a 9-1 lead out of the gate. After Western squeaked out the 28-26 win in a thrilling game three, Monticello recovered again for an assertive 25-17 win in game four.
“Looking at how the last game went to now and it was less than a week, that’s huge strides,” Monticello coach Meg Carpenter. “It speaks a lot to their mentality and their focus. They even said at the end of the game we have nothing to be upset about, we can be so excited because of how far we’ve come.”
Cognata put together a game-high 18 kills to go with four blocks and 13 digs for the Mustangs while Megan Walin notched seven kills, four aces and nine digs.
The Mustangs couldn’t finish it off though, as Western got off to a start similar in game five to the Mustangs in game two, jumping out 9-2 on Parker’s service run that included one of her seven ace.
Western now faces the potentially decisive match against the Flucos Thursday after playing Charlottesville Tuesday. Against the Flucos, they’ll try and avenge a 3-2 loss of their own for the automatic region playoff berth while Monticello hosts Powhatan in a critical match of their own Tuesday that could keep the Mustangs in the mix for the berth.
