Sarah Harper piles up the stats and serves as Western Albemarle’s calm, collected leader, but every team needs an emotional sparkplug.
Who better than a cheerleader?
Western Albemarle senior Chastity Lacy, who has a background in competitive cheering, gave Western all the excitement the Warriors needed Wednesday night as they dispatched the defending Group AAA champion and cross-county rival Albemarle in a 3-0 sweep at home in both squads’ season opener. It isn’t just Lacy’s enthusiasm though that helped the Warriors.
“She brings an amazing amount of energy,” said Western Albemarle coach Lance Rogers. “She also has a sixth sense with our setters (Riley Martin and Megan Adams) and such quick reflexes.”
Lacy, who doesn’t have prototypical middle blocker size at just 5-foot-6, relies largely on her leaping ability around the net, and she put it to good use Wednesday against the Patriots. Lacy had seven kills in the sweep, complementing Harper well and forcing Albemarle to account for everyone up front for Western. Harper finished with 10 kills and three aces, while Adams dished out 13 assists.
The defending champs couldn’t seem to get in sync for long enough to turn things around all night, showing the early season timing problems that one would expect from a team replacing a host of stars including Kara Elder, Laura Gomez and Sara Deal. Abby Hendrix’s return at setter and Hannah Lawson’s emergence as a lead hitter should help the Patriots iron out those problems as the season progresses. Lawson had stretches where she looked dominant, finishing off several points in a row, but with things a bit out of sorts at times with the new pieces in place, Albemarle struggled through some stretches. That opened the door for Western.
“A lot of it’s timing and some of it is anticipating and being ready for every play,” said Albemarle coach Mark Ragland.
Lawson had seven kills and seven service points while Hendrix put together 14 assists and six service points. Megan Napolitano, a tennis star for Albemarle, is also beginning to establish herself as a major piece of the puzzle for the Patriots. The junior had six kills against the Warriors.
The win was a nice momentum builder for Western, who won 25-19, 25-20 and 25-22 over the span of the match. Both squads have critical district battles looming and should benefit from a stout test in their opener.
