Sports
Second-Game Surge Can't Lift Clayton Over Bayless
The Clayton Greyhounds volleyball team tied the Bayless Broncos on numerous points during its second game but couldn't sustain enough momentum to put them away.
The survived a surge from a determined volleyball team on Wednesday afternoon in a non-conference contest at Clayton.
The Broncos won 2-0. They defeated the Greyhounds 25-15 in the first game and 25-23 in the second.
“We came off of a (Hancock) tournament where we lost two games late,” Broncos coach Jon Robards said. “Our girls came out focused. We knew this was a tough team, and we’re also at their place. We knew we had to send a message early. We are notorious, over the years, for coming out lax and dropping our intensity. But I thought Clayton played much better in the second game. They were making more mistakes and giving us a lot of points.”
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Bayless started out the first game with a bang. It put together a five-point run with Erica Dennison serving. The Broncos managed to stay at least seven points ahead of the Greyhounds throughout the first game.
But the Greyhounds fought back in the second game. In its early minutes, the score was tied up at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 points. Clayton’s Nikki Tomova had a kill to tie the score up at six points. But an eight-point Bronco run put the momentum back in Bayless’ corner and made the score 16-7. Brittany Dunworth served during the run.
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“Brittany Dunworth is our most consistent player this year,” Robards said. “She hits well, serves well and plays good defense. She’s a smaller girl, only about 5-foot-5 (inches), but she really jumps up off of the ground and plays aggressive. She’s a junior, and it’s her first year on varsity.”
But Clayton just wouldn’t go away. Katie Marvel’s kill cut Bayless’ lead to 17-11, and a seven-point serving run from Amelia Stubblefield put the Greyhounds on top 20-19. Late in the second game, the score was tied up at 20, 21, 22, and 23 points, but the Greyhounds couldn’t sustain enough momentum to put the Broncos away.
“In game one, we weren’t playing our game,” Clayton coach Liz Hickox said. “We weren’t warmed up and weren’t prepared. We got a little rattled ... . In game two, we were playing our style.”
Clayton drops to 2-3 with the loss while Bayless improves to 4-3. The Greyhounds will return to action at 5 p.m. Friday with a match at .