Jackets get first win over Falcons in nearly a decade

The Fort Mill High volleyball team beat rivals Nation Ford for the first time since 2008.

Nation Ford, which opened in 2007, had won 12 straight matches against Fort Mill since, but the Lady Jackets had this game on their to-do list at the beginning of the season.

“These girls got up for this game,” said Fort Mill head coach Gina Farley. “They have been hungry for this win. We prepared for this.”

Fort Mill won in four sets 3-1 (25-19, 25-23, 18-25, 25-21) and were led by seniors Tessa Grubbs’ double-double with 22 kills and 15 digs and Payton Carter’s 15 kills. Brooke Farley added 43 assists as well.

“A ton of credit goes to Payton and Tessa,” Farley said.

Both teams battled back and forth in the first set as the Lady Jackets went up 9-6. Nation Ford tied things at 12-12, but Fort Mill scored the next three points to regain control going up 17-13 and holding on for the win.

In the second set, the match was even closer with Nation Ford jumping out to an 8-6 lead, before Fort Mill came back to tie things up twice at 12-12 and 15-15. The Lady Falcons tried to pull away on several occasion, but each time, Fort Mill stayed on their heels.

Fort Mill then took at 22-20 lead before closing out the second set to go up 2-0.

In the third set, Nation Ford started hot and didn’t let up. The Lady Falcons went up 12-5 forcing Fort Mill into a time out. The Lady Falcons stayed on the offensive coming out the time out and went up 18-11, before the Lady Jackets scored four straight points to close the gap.

Nation Ford came out of the time out scoring three straight points to close the match out and take some of the momentum away from the Lady Jackets.

In the fourth set, Nation Ford again started strong jumping out to a 5-2 lead, but Fort Mill rallied to tie the match at 10-10.

Nation Ford grabbed a 14-12 lead, but Fort Mill scored seven straight to take the lead and derail the Lady Falcons’ momentum.

“We played tight,” said Nation Ford head coach Carrie Christian. “We didn’t play our best.”

Later in the week, Fort Mill beat Rock Hill 3-1 (25-23, 25-21, 20-25, 25-22) to improve to 4-0 in Region III play. Grubbs led with 26 kills and Carter had a double-double with 16 kills and 14 digs. Farley had 45 assist in the win.

Nation Ford bounced back against York later in the week winning 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-10).

This story was originally published September 14, 2015 at 9:57 AM with the headline "Jackets get first win over Falcons in nearly a decade."