Nation Ford takes Region volleyball lead with win

With a four-set win over rivals Fort Mill, the Nation Ford Lady Falcons took the lead in the Region III-4A standings.

Nation Ford beat Fort Mill 3-1 (25-22, 25-21, 24-26, 25-20) to split the season series with the Lady Jackets, but more importantly gain the region lead.

Now the hard part comes for the Lady Falcons

“We have to win out,” said Nation Ford head coach Carrie Christian.

“Northwestern will be huge Thursday. We hit the ball well, but we didn’t pass well. We have to put it all together.”

The match was close for most of the four sets, but Nation Ford went on runs to pull away when it needed to. In the first set, neither team was able to get a real advantage as they both started out 5-5.

Nation Ford went up 12-9 shortly thereafter, but Fort Mill came right back to tie at 14-14. The Lady Falcons went on another run to score five straight points and go up 19-14, forcing a Fort Mill time out. Nation Ford held serve afterward and continued to pull away to take the first set.

The second set opened a lot like the first as the Lady Falcons went up 9-7, but again Fort Mill tied at 10-10. After continuing to go back and forth, Nation Ford again hit a run and went up 22-18 before another Fort Mill time out.

Fort Mill closed the gap after the time out, but Nation Ford again held on for the win.

The third set for Fort Mill started well and the Jackets were able to take the lead early, going up 10-7. Nation Ford stayed close, and finally tied the match at 15-15.

Fort Mill took two quick timeouts, as Nation Ford went on a 7-0 run to take a 19-15 lead. However, the Lady Jackets battled back to tie the match at 20-20, before going on a run of their own to take a 24-20 lead. Fort Mill held on to win the set 26-24 after a brief Lady Falcons rally.

In the fourth set, neither team got an advantage as they traded points up to 11-11. Nation Ford then scored four straight points to go up 15-11. That surge allowed the Lady Falcons to pull away for the 25-20 win.

Fort Mill head coach Gina Farley said she felt bad for her team.

“I was disappointed for them,” she said. “I knew how bad they wanted to beat them. We just had to many errors. Our focus now is finish out the region with wins.”

The Lady Jackets have three more region matches against Rock Hill, York and Gaffney. Nation Ford has four more matches against York, Northwestern, Clover and Rock Hill.

This story was originally published October 5, 2015 at 10:28 AM with the headline "Nation Ford takes Region volleyball lead with win."