East Lawrence takes down Hatton for first area win
· Yahoo Sports
Sep. 15—CADDO — After a loss in the fourth set against Hatton, East Lawrence head coach Savannah Kimbrell couldn't help but feel a sense of deja-vu on Monday night.
Last Thursday, her Eagles lost a match to Danville in which they led 2-1 just to drop the final sets.
Visit bettingx.bond for more information.
But against Hatton on Monday, they refused the repeat and put away the Hornets in five sets (22-25, 28-26, 25-16, 22-24,15-5) for their first win in Class 3A, Area 9.
"I feel like they were just tired of losing," first-year head coach Savannah Kimbrell said.
Her feeling was spot on.
Senior Outside Macey Austin led her team with 10 kills, five blocks and 22 digs, because she was tired of taking losses.
"I'm tired of losing. I don't want to be last in area this year. I really want to host," she said. "I feel like it's something we haven't done in a while and it's my senior season."
She kept that goal to host alive with this win.
With Hatton's loss and East Lawrence's win, three of the four teams in Area 9 has a split record of 1-1.
"We needed this win for our morale," Kimbrell said. "But we also split, so now we're back to an even playing field."
Compared to last week, Kimbrell said, she saw a more confident team on the floor.
"We weren't just trying to whale on the ball," Kimbrell said. "We were finding their weakness and finding their holes, and utilizing that to our advantage."
For Hatton, the Hornets started well with a first set win but struggled to put the ball in play during that fifth set.
The Hornets hit the net three straight times to go down 11-2 in the final set and could never recover.
As Hatton stacked errors, the Eagle offense was relatively clean. They had only a single error in that last set.
"A win like this feels very good. I feel like we worked hard. It was hard losing," Austin said. "When we get down, it's hard to get back up. But against Hatton, we stayed up."
After their fourth set loss, Austin said it was important for the Eagles to stay motivated.
When the energy dipped in the fifth set and Hatton scored consecutive points, she had a big spike on the right side to extend their lead to 7-2.
"That fourth set got us, but I knew that I didn't want to to lose," Austin said. "I knew I had to step up and be a leader."
With this big win in area, Kimbrell said she feels like the Eagles are starting to find their wings.
"We had homecoming week last week, we played in a tournament this weekend. Our minds are a little everywhere," Kimbrell said. "But I feel like they needed to be pushed a little bit and I think it's starting to pay off."
For East Lawrence, Averie Hargett had nine kills and five blocks. Macey's younger sister Madison hauled in seven kills and four blocks, Chloe Gatlin picked up 32 assists.
Hatton's stats were not available by press time.
—
Lawrence County 2, Hatton 0: The Red Devils beat Hatton in two sets (25-22, 25-14) on Monday night at East Lawrence.
Lawrence County's Kamryn Melson led the way with 12 kills and four digs. Lawrence County's Lara Anne Norwood had seven kills.
Hatton's stats were not immediately available.
—
Lawrence County 2, East Lawrence 0: Lawrence County won the annual county-tri match without dropping a set, beating East Lawrence 25-22, 25-14.
Lawrence County's Lara Anne Norwood led the way with nine kills and seven digs.