Greenfield wins third in a row, sweeps Liberty Christian to maintain 2nd in CPIC
Jimmy Lewis jlewis@wilsontimes.com Twitter:
The prevailing book on the 2020 Greenfield School varsity volleyball team has been that of a defense that is ahead of its offense.
Maybe it’s time to give the Lady Knights a little more credit than that.
One day after a four-set victory over archrival Wayne Country Day — which has been few and far between in the recent series history between the teams — Greenfield strengthened its grip on second place in the 1-A/2-A Coastal Plain Independents Conference on Friday afternoon with a controlling 25-8, 25-7, 25-17 victory over Richlands Liberty Christian.
The sixth win against four losses for the Lady Knights boosted their CPIC ledger to 4-1 ahead of a Tuesday home match against league leader Greenville Pope John Paul II, which handed Greenfield a 3-0 loss on the first day of October.
Liberty Christian, playing in the CPIC for the first time this season, remained winless through 10 matches and six in conference play.
“I was very pleased,” Greenfield head coach Jadelyn Castillo said. “(Thursday) was such an amazing day. The girls were on point and everybody played their game. Last time we played this team, Liberty, we won but it was in four sets and the scores were very tight. So I think we accomplished what we wanted, which was win, but three sets and not have the scores so close like that.”
While there was little difference physically between the Lady Knights and Heat, Greenfield was permitted to take its offense to levels it hasn’t frequently enjoyed this season as Liberty struggled to maintain rallies through the first two sets.
The Lady Knights trio of sophomore Ysabella Saldi, sophomore Mackenzie Landers and sophomore Jeallen Holland dominated the service line in the opening set, with Landers staking Greenfield to a 10-2 cushion and Holland extending to a commanding 22-6.
Saldi, who directed Greenfield’s offense with 22 assists, served eight aces and accounted for 21 service points on 26 swings. She added six digs and deposited four kills.
With fans still not allowed to attend North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association events due to COVID-19 precautions — that will change Monday when home players are allowed two spectators each — the Lady Knights feasted on every point by rhythmically slapping the bench in the effort to create energy in the building.
“Energy is what we need to win,” Saldi said. “We don’t have much skill on our team, so I think energy keeps us up and it’s what gets us going to win. It’s really big because we’ve never had that much energy ever. This year, especially with there being corona, we don’t have any fans so we have to bring the energy for ourselves.”
Greenfield stats credited the Lady Knights with 35 total kills, 11 coming off the arm of sophomore Gabrielle Vester. She added five digs and used constant feeds from Saldi to batter the Heat defense off the left side. Forty-nine of the 75 points amassed by Greenfield originated off the serve from the hosts.
Defensively, Landers finished two kills shy of a double-double with 13 digs and eight kills to go along with four aces. Darcy Dean, an eighth grader, tallied 10 digs.
Saldi closed the second set with 13 of her 21 service points as the Lady Knights closed matters on a 13-0 run. She had five aces during the spree, and a Landers kill put Greenfield up by two sets.
“Sometimes when we lose, it’s because of a lot of very silly mistakes,” Castillo said. “And today, we minimized those. Everybody’s serves were good and that definitely helps a lot. Especially when you have a team like us, and we’re not strong on offense right now. We’re relying a lot on defense. The serves definitely helped us.”
Holland had six kills and a pair of aces.
Liberty stayed around as late as 12-12 in the third set, only to see Saldi return to the service line and direct the Lady Knights to a five-point advantage. The Heat never got the margin lower than three the rest of the way.
Now, an unbeaten CPIC leader awaits in the form of the Lady Saints.
“We have to figure out a defense that works for us,” Castillo said. “When we played John Paul last time, we were off on our defense, and so we have to make some adjustments. And I think if we’re able to do that successfully, we’ll be able to beat them on Tuesday.”
Jimmy Lewis jlewis@wilsontimes.com Twitter:
The prevailing book on the 2020 Greenfield School varsity volleyball team has been that of a defense that is ahead of its offense.
Maybe it’s time to give the Lady Knights a little more credit than that.
One day after a four-set victory over archrival Wayne Country Day — which has been few and far between in the recent series history between the teams — Greenfield strengthened its grip on second place in the 1-A/2-A Coastal Plain Independents Conference on Friday afternoon with a controlling 25-8, 25-7, 25-17 victory over Richlands Liberty Christian.
The sixth win against four losses for the Lady Knights boosted their CPIC ledger to 4-1 ahead of a Tuesday home match against league leader Greenville Pope John Paul II, which handed Greenfield a 3-0 loss on the first day of October.
Liberty Christian, playing in the CPIC for the first time this season, remained winless through 10 matches and six in conference play.
“I was very pleased,” Greenfield head coach Jadelyn Castillo said. “(Thursday) was such an amazing day. The girls were on point and everybody played their game. Last time we played this team, Liberty, we won but it was in four sets and the scores were very tight. So I think we accomplished what we wanted, which was win, but three sets and not have the scores so close like that.”
While there was little difference physically between the Lady Knights and Heat, Greenfield was permitted to take its offense to levels it hasn’t frequently enjoyed this season as Liberty struggled to maintain rallies through the first two sets.
The Lady Knights trio of sophomore Ysabella Saldi, sophomore Mackenzie Landers and sophomore Jeallen Holland dominated the service line in the opening set, with Landers staking Greenfield to a 10-2 cushion and Holland extending to a commanding 22-6.
Saldi, who directed Greenfield’s offense with 22 assists, served eight aces and accounted for 21 service points on 26 swings. She added six digs and deposited four kills.
With fans still not allowed to attend North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association events due to COVID-19 precautions — that will change Monday when home players are allowed two spectators each — the Lady Knights feasted on every point by rhythmically slapping the bench in the effort to create energy in the building.
“Energy is what we need to win,” Saldi said. “We don’t have much skill on our team, so I think energy keeps us up and it’s what gets us going to win. It’s really big because we’ve never had that much energy ever. This year, especially with there being corona, we don’t have any fans so we have to bring the energy for ourselves.”
Greenfield stats credited the Lady Knights with 35 total kills, 11 coming off the arm of sophomore Gabrielle Vester. She added five digs and used constant feeds from Saldi to batter the Heat defense off the left side. Forty-nine of the 75 points amassed by Greenfield originated off the serve from the hosts.
Defensively, Landers finished two kills shy of a double-double with 13 digs and eight kills to go along with four aces. Darcy Dean, an eighth grader, tallied 10 digs.
Saldi closed the second set with 13 of her 21 service points as the Lady Knights closed matters on a 13-0 run. She had five aces during the spree, and a Landers kill put Greenfield up by two sets.
“Sometimes when we lose, it’s because of a lot of very silly mistakes,” Castillo said. “And today, we minimized those. Everybody’s serves were good and that definitely helps a lot. Especially when you have a team like us, and we’re not strong on offense right now. We’re relying a lot on defense. The serves definitely helped us.”
Holland had six kills and a pair of aces.
Liberty stayed around as late as 12-12 in the third set, only to see Saldi return to the service line and direct the Lady Knights to a five-point advantage. The Heat never got the margin lower than three the rest of the way.
Now, an unbeaten CPIC leader awaits in the form of the Lady Saints.
“We have to figure out a defense that works for us,” Castillo said. “When we played John Paul last time, we were off on our defense, and so we have to make some adjustments. And I think if we’re able to do that successfully, we’ll be able to beat them on Tuesday.”
