Hartsville sweeps Darlington in volleyball match

By: Don Gearhart

The Lady Red Foxes from Hartsville swept their home volleyball match with the Lady Falcons from Darlington by scores of 25-17, 25-21, and 25-18. All three sets were marred by numerous service errors and very few attacks. In the first set, the match was tied at 14-14 until Hartsville recorded five straight points to take a 19-14 lead. That lead grew to eight when Isabella Lefew finished the set with a kill.
Sierra Gainey led Hartsville’s offense with four kills. Akeeya Lucas contributed three kills and McCanless Pennington added two kills. Natalie O’neal had eight assists and Lefew added two more. On the defensive side, Alize Thomas had eight digs. Emilee Isgett and Pennngton added five each, and Lucas tallied four.
Darlington was led by Kierra Martin’s four kills. Cynthia Bass garnered eight digs and Patience Euton contributed four digs.
The second set was all Darlington until late. Nursing 19-14 lead, the Lady Falcons faltered with Hartsville finally tying the set at 20-20. The Lady Red Foxes forged ahead to win 25-21 with when a service ace from Thomas completed the victory. For Hartsville, Lucas had two kills, Thomas had eleven digs, and O’neal chipped in with five digs. Darlington was led by Martin’s four kills and eleven digs from Bass and six digs from Kaitlyn Carpenter.
A tight third set saw Darlington earn an early lead, but Hartsville tied the set at 4-4. The set went back-and-forth and was tied at 14-14 until Hartsville scored the next four points to take a 18-14 lead. The closest Darlington got was 20-17. The set and match were culminated when Madison Rhodes landed a service ace to punctuate the match.
Lucas had two kills for Hartsville. O’neal had three assists, Thomas had eight digs, O’neal had five digs, and Rhodes contributed four digs.
Darlington was led by two kills each from Amber Tallent and Carpenter. Bass scrambled for seven digs supported by four digs each by Lynsey Tiller and Euten who also had two service aces.