The Anson High School Lady Bearcats look to extend their undefeated streak to five games Tuesday, when they head on the road for a 6 p.m. tilt against the 1-3 Piedmont Lady Panthers.
Anson’s dominance seems evident with the Lady Bearcats losing a single set this season – the first set of a 3-1 victory over Montgomery Central in the August 13 opener – but won their next 12 consecutive sets while sweeping three of their last four opponents.
“We did summer workouts, but we have quite a few girls who did travel [volleyball]. It kind of keeps them in shape. They play together on a travel team. We have five returning players that were pretty strong last year. It wasn’t a complete rebuild,” Anson coach Patty Livingston said.
Despite graduating seven seniors last season, the Lady Bearcats have not missed a step since dropping their first set. After falling in to the Lady Timerbwolves in extra sets 26-24, Anson returned the favor with their own 26-24, extra-sets victory, followed by pair of blowouts to tallying their first victory of the season. Junior outside hitter Brooklyn Miles had a team-leading 15 kills, followed by junior middle blocker Eva Hyatt’s 8 and junior setter Allie Steagal’s 5. Steagal also had a team-leading 25 assists. Her 6 aces tied junior libero Hannah Austin for the team lead, but Austin out did her defensively wth 20 digs to Steagal’s 9.
“We’re doing pretty good, so far, but we have a lot more potential. We just got to keep getting better,” Miles said. “We just really have to dig deep, and stick with the fundamentals no matter how crazy it gets. We have to work with what we are given. We lost a lot of seniors from last year, but we’ve done a good job of piecing our team together.”
Since the opener, the Lady Bearcats seem on a tear after pulverizing their next three opponents with a trio of sweeps. Following a week-long break, Anson skirted past South Stanly 25-18, 25-16 and 25-23, then a day later downed Albemarle in straight sets 25-18, 25-21 and 25-19. Expecting a tougher challenge from Southern Carolina Conference rival Forest Hills, the Lady Bearcats mauled the Yellow Jackets 25-19, 25-5 and 25-13.
Anson’s rout last Thursday seemed a team effort with Hyatt pointing a team-leading 8 kills, followed by Steagal with 6 and Miles with 4. Steagal also led in digs with 12 to Austin’s 9 and Miles’ 7, as well as assists with 21.
“I think we started off pretty good. We were still trying to figure everything out, because we still have some young people on the team, but we started out pretty good,” said Steagal, following the Albermarle sweep, later adding the Lady Bearcats’ must continue focusing on mental toughness despite the early success. “We can’t control what the call is. We just have to go back to what we’ve been told. We have to take this emotion, this excitement that we’re feeling and carry it on into tomorrow.”
The Lady Bearcats return to Wadesboro Wednesday to host North Stanly, then remain at home Thursday against Central Academy. First serve for both games is set for 6 p.m.