By By Matthew Nascone
The second battle in the volleyball war for the border went to the Northview Lady Chiefs. NHS squared off with the Escambia Academy Lady Cougars Thursday and came away with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-12) victory.
"To end the regular season with a win like this will help us go into the district tournament strong on Tuesday," NHS coach Betty Heaton said. "What won the match for us was our service game. We served aggressive all night long."
Senior Crystal Hollingsworth led the charge with five aces and she added seven assists. Junior Camedon Loncar had four kills and sophomore Brittney Thompson had six kills and three aces.
"Brittney played solid at the net for us," Heaton said.
EA head coach Keri Payne was not happy with how her team played Thursday.
"I was disappointed," Payne said. "We are better than how we played out there today. This was an important match and our girls knew that, but they just didn't come to play today."
The Lady Chiefs (4-11, 0-6) have been on a roller coaster of wins and losses all year.
Against Jay High School on Oct. 2, the team won, 3-2 (25-16, 25-22, 16-25, 15-25, 15-7).
"We served well against Jay and their girls had a hard time returning the serves," NHS head coach Blaire Hall said.
Another of the turns on the roller coaster was a doubleheader at home against Central High School. The Lady Chiefs split the matches, winning the first one, 3-2 (26-24, 25-15, 12-25, 21-25, 15-11), and losing the second, 2-3 (16-25, 29-27, 25-17, 18-25, 13-15).
"Central came out looking bad and they upped their level of play and beat us in that second match," Hall said.
The squad's match against Flomaton on Sept. 7 was another good one, according to Hall. They won 3-1 (4-25, 25-23, 28-26,25-18).
"Flomaton put up a great fight and had excellent defense all the way through, but we won in the end," Hall said. "Kasey Baggett stood out as the best digger of the game with six digs. Camedon Loncar, four blocks, and Brittney Thompson, three blocks, led the team in defense on the net."
Baggett added four kills, Kalyn Vaughn had five, Thompson recorded six and Loncar had three.
"These girls truly raised their level of play to help us win," Hall said.
Northview hosts the district tournament this year. The tournament begins Oct. 17 with Walton and South Walton in the day and Northview facing Catholic at 7 p.m. The winners of those two matches play for the district championship Oct. 19 at 7 p.m.
The Lady Cougars travel to Clarke Prep Oct. 17 and host Evangel Christian Oct. 19 for senior night at 4:30 p.m. in the team's final game of the season.