KEYSER, W.Va. — No. 1 Northern hasn’t lot a set or a match so far, but it’s still a work in progress.
After a mistake-filled win over No. 1 Fort Hill on Monday, the Huskies (4-0) got off to another slow start on Wednesday.
Northern overcame some early mistakes and went on to sweep Keyser, winning 25-21, 25-19 and 25-13.
“We’re still sticky, we don’t have the flow that I’m used to,” Northern head coach Jamie Bailey said. “We just gotta work that out. That and missed serves again, geez.”
The first set was the most competitive with three lead changes and five ties.
Early in the set, Marisa Perez assisted Demi Ross and Allahna Lacy on consecutive kills, then Perez recorded four consecutive aces to stretch the lead to 14-8.
The Golden Tornado (9-6) answered with an 11-5 run led by Amirah Bryant who recorded a block, a kill, an assist and an ace during the run.
Bryant recorded six kills, two blocks, two assists and an ace.
“It was a great match,” Keyser head coach Brian Kesner said. “We found out about a half hour before that we’d lost another starter. We were down two starters tonight, so we were short and had to do a new rotation. I thought they played well, Northern’s the number one team in the area.”
Northern committed four of its seven errors in the set during Keyser’s run.
A kill from Nakira Bartlett evened the score at 19 before Northern went on a 6-2 run to win the opening set.
“Our passes were better to the setter and the setter was able to get good sets to the hitters,” Kesner said. “We had a lot of blocks, but on the blocks, they were able to jump it back up and make another play. Northern, they’re good at that, they’re really good at moving the ball around.”
Perez assisted on three of the six points, including the final point on a kill from Ross.
Perez finished with 24 assists, seven aces and two digs while Ross recorded nine kills and five digs.
The Huskies led the second set from the start, but the Tornado continued to cut into the lead.
A Bartlett kill cut Keyser’s deficit to 10-9 before Northern pulled away a few plays later on a kill from Perez to Lacy.
Lacy finished with seven kills, three aces and two digs.
The Huskies went on a 13-4 run to go up 10, 23-13, capitalizing off of four Tornado errors.
A kill from Bella Haines to Bryant cut Keyser’s deficit to 24-14, starting a run of five unanswered points courtesy of three straight Husky errors.
“We’re having trouble blocking, so some of their hits were really getting through,” Bailey said. “And they had some really smart plays, deep push and our miscommunication would’ve helped out.”
Facing set point and leading 24-19, a service error clinched the set for Northern.
The third set opened with three lead changes and three ties.
The Huskies took a 9-8 lead on an error, then went on an 11-2 run to go up 20-10.
Cali Butler and Violet Taylor each recorded a pair of aces during the run.
Facing match point and leading 24-13, Lacy’s ace finished it.
Northern finished with 17 aces compared to Keyser’s four.
“We literally have to move up, our defense has to move up and take the ball close to the net, which is difficult because the ball’s coming at a faster speed,” Kesner said of Northern’s power. “If you’re back too far, the ball’s moving too quick and you can’t make a play on it.”
Jillian Ault recorded four kills, three blocks and an ace for the Tornado while Bella Haines contributed seven assists with a kill and a block.
While Northern’s four-game streak of not losing a set continues, Bailey feels there’s still room to grow.
“I feel I have a full team, I’m not missing a position,” Bailey said. “Sometimes you gotta scram someone in a spot that doesn’t belong there. So everything’s filled well, so it is fixable. But it’s nothing I can fix. The girls are gonna have to decide to do it themselves.”
The Huskies won the junior varsity game in three sets 27-25, 13-25 and 16-14.
Mazzy Morel finished with an ace, three kills, three assists and four digs while London Champlin added 20 digs with four aces and a kill for Northern.
Keyser’s statistics for the junior varsity game were not provided.
The Huskies travel to Trinity Christian on Friday at 7:15 p.m.
The Golden Tornado host No. 4 Frankfort (3-5) on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.
“It’s a big rivalry, they’re not in our section anymore, so it’s just another match for us,” Kesner said of the Falcons. “It’s Hampshire, Elkins and Keyser now (in Keyser’s section), but it’s a big rivalry so we’ll be ready. I won’t have the two players back, we’ll still be playing short. But I know the girls, they circle that date on the calendar every year.”