By By Matthew Nascone
The Escambia Academy volleyball team made history Aug. 28 in Monroeville.
The Lady Cougars (2-2) won two matches in one day for the first time since the team came back to the Academy as a sport last year.
They took down Meadowview 2-1 (25-12, 23-25, 15-2) in the first match of the double dip against Meadowview and Monroe Academy.
Freshmen Amber Huskey and Taylor Helton fueled the final set of the Lady Cougars' first match win with seven aces. Huskey won the first 10 points of the final set on her serve and Helton finished Meadowview off after they scored two points with five points on her serve.
"Amber was on her serve that day," EA head coach Keri Payne said. "We went back-and-forth in that match until finally our girls decided to take no mercy and they ended it with a bang."
Senior Clare Jones added four assists, senior Talerie Singleton contributed four aces, sophomore Jordan Jaye had four kills and junior Lauren Wilson had three aces.
"It was a good match for us," Payne said. "There was a point in the second set where we had to fight back and they did, but we couldn't pull the set out and that is when the killer instinct kicked in and they grabbed their first win."
EA handled Monroe Academy 2-0 (27-25, 25-13) in the second half of the double match for the Lady Cougars.
Huskey was again a force, with 12 straight points coming off her serve when the Lady Cougars needed it the most. The teams were tied in the second set at 13-13 before Huskey's turn in the rotation and she nailed six aces in the 12-point stretch.
"She closed out the match for us," Payne said. "We were not bump, set and spiking in the first set, but they got back to our game and we won easily in the second set."
Jaye had five kills and one block in the Monroe match. Jones added five assists and two kills. Singleton had one ace and two kills.
The two-match win streak was halted Aug. 30 when the Lady Cougars hosted Central (Fla.) High School. Central took the close match 3-2 (10-25, 25-11, 16-25, 25-22, 16-14).
"This was the best team we have played so far," Payne said. "They had a couple of good spikers and they could put the ball where they wanted it to go. And they had really good servers."
Huskey shone again, with 29 points on her serve, 10 aces, five kills and one block. She scored the first and last eight points of the first set.
Helton added four kills. Wilson had 11 points on serve and two kills. Jaye compiled seven kills, three blocks and two aces. Jones had nine points on serve, 10 assists and two kills.
"That was a heartbreaking loss," Payne said. "We went ahead in the final set 14-12, but we had a missed serve and Central had a good server come up and we lost the final four points."
EA faced Central again Tuesday night and the results will be in an upcoming Advance. The Lady Cougars host Wilcox Academy Thursday at 4:30 p.m.