CLAYTON -- Clayton volleyball coach Aaron Firebaugh said it was the best hitting game he has witnessed this season. Unfortunately for his Comets, a four-match conference winning streak came to an end against a neighboring rival on Thursday.
Junior outside hitter Megan Gibbons had 17 kills while junior middle blocker Eboni Robinson added seven kills and two blocks as West Johnston swept Clayton 25-23, 26-24, 26-24 in a tightly contested Greater Neuse River 4-A event.
"We have lost a lot of close sets, so in practice, we have really been focusing on closing them out," said West coach Jerry Hogan, whose squad improved to 5-1 in the GNRC and 8-4 overall. "When the big points come, we can't afford to play it safe. Tonight I thought the girls were right there - in the big moments, we were relaxed and playing hard and going for big swings, whereas in the past, we would have been tight and worried about making a mistake."
The Wildcats jumped to leads in all three sets, only to see Clayton battle back each time. Big points made the difference: when West needed a big serve, a big return or a huge kill, the team got it.
"Our serve-receive was inconsistent at times, especially in the first two sets," said Firebaugh, whose squad dropped to 4-2 in the league and 5-8 overall. "They were able to go on some runs, and we weren't making good passes. We hit the ball great - as a team, that's the best we've hit all year. But you have to put good passes up there in order to hit."
The first set featured 11 ties and 12 lead changes. West used a four-point run on the serve of Danielle Myers to grab a 7-3 lead, but Clayton - behind the serve of Jaimie Tahir - came back to take an 10-7 advantage on an unforced error, a nice left-handed return by junior outside hitter Nicole Bond and two West kills that hit the net.
The Comets maintained the lead until the 30th point, when a kill by Jenna Harris was out, making it 15-all. The next seven serve opportunities resulted in three ties and four lead changes.
Clayton took a 19-18 lead on a kill by junior Morgan Matthews, but West Johnston tied it on a low serve by junior Morgan Boyles and took the lead when Boyles' next serve skimmed the net and fell into an open area. Back came Clayton to tie at 22 on a kill by Bond, and after the Cats failed to return, the Comets held a 23-22 lead, prompting Hogan to call timeout.
That quelled any Clayton momentum, as the next serve by Katie Lebo hit the net to tie it at 23. An unforced error and a solid serve by Gibbons gave the Wildcats the victory.
Gibbons, who had six kills in the first set, got cranked up in the second. She had consecutive kills while Robinson added a block to give West an early 7-3 lead.
Clayton was able to keep it close and cut the deficit to 12-11 on consecutive unforced errors. But Gibbons' 10th kill stared a four-point run by the Wildcats.
Clayton eventually tied it at 17 (on the first kill by senior Laura Forbes), at 18 (on Forbes' second kill) and at 19 on Forbes' third kill. A long return on Ali Orringer's serve gave the Comets a 21-20 lead, but West rallied again, using a solid serve by Boyles to regain the advantage at 21-20.
Gibbons recorded her 12th kill to give West a 24-21 lead, but two long kill attempts and a wide return by middle blocker Kirsten Bost tied it at 24. Middle blocker Halle Eicher gave the Cats the lead, and an attempted kill by Bond sailed out, putting the visitors up two sets to none.
With outside hitter Amber Burns serving, West Johnston jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the final set as Gibbons, Robinson and Eicher recorded kills. The Wildcats were able to maintain a sizable lead (14-5) thanks to kills by Robinson and Gibbons, but Clayton kept fighting.
The Comets used long returns on the serves by Lebo to pull within five (14-9) and eventually got within two (17-15) on a cross-court smash by Forbes.
Clayton was within a point (18-17) when Robinson's tip found an open area. Gibbons' 17th kill made it 20-17.
A nice return by Bost gave West a 24-21 lead, but Clayton rallied to within a point (24-23) on a return and solid serve by Bond. The Comets tied it at 24 when Gibbons elected to play a ball that appeared was going out.
Robinson gave West the momentum back with a huge kill after Boyles' solid set, and a short return of Eicher's serve led to Robinson's final kill that sealed the match.
Hogan said West Johnston's success starts with passing. Boyles has started at setter since she was a freshman.
"Morgan has a real good feel for the pulse of the game," Hogan said. "If she gets a hot hitter, she keeps going to her, and Megan was hot tonight. We also want to get (Robinson) involved as much as we can because she leads the team in kill percentage, but we are so dependent on good passing to get her involved in our offense. I thought any time we had good passes, she was money in the bank."
