LINDEN — Heading into Tuesday night, either North Montgomery or Frankfort would not only get their first Sagamore Conference win of the season, but also the first win overall. The Chargers, who are now under the guidance of first-year coach Taylor Dyson, would battle as they have for most of this early season but would end up falling to the Hot Dogs in three sets 16-25, 17-25, 24-26.
In both the first and second sets North Montgomery was able to keep pace with the Hot Dogs until about the half-way mark when the Hot Dogs would pull away. In set one the Chargers trailed 15-12 before Frankfort used a 6-0 run to go up 21-12. In set two the Chargers once again were keeping the score within striking distance but could never make a run to get back in. The third set proved to be a battle till the very end as Chargers got out to an early 7-4 lead before the two teams would take turns leading the decisive third set. North Montgomery had a 20-17 lead and even was a single point away from a set three win at 24-23 before the Hot Dogs scored the final three points to secure the victory.
“For the girls to show that amount of fight in the third set was a positive sign,” Dyson said. “We just have to start sets out like that and not wait until we’re behind 2-0. The girls have the confidence and have shown it in spurts, it’s just about putting together a complete game.”
McKenzie Schroeder had five kills and two blocks on the night for the Chargers while Annabel Anderson added four kills of her own. Freshman Ayden Bruan led the team in digs with seven and Bell Mattingly added four. Piper Ramey ended her night with 10 assists in the loss.
The loss sees the Chargers searching for their first win of the season. However despite that, Dyson has loved what she’s seen in terms of the girls effort so far this year.
“That’s not a question at all and that’s what we’re trying to tell them,” she said. “These girls have been working really hard in practice and you can already see a big difference from last year. These girls want to get better and that’s the best part about this team is there’s no quit in them.”
Another brightspot for the Chargers has been the play of their junior varsity team which defeated the Hot Dogs in three sets for their second straight win on the season.
The Chargers will return to the court on Thursday for another Sagamore Conference showdown this time it will be on the road as they make the trip to take on Danville.
“If we continue to work on some of these things I think we’ll be right there competing with mostly everyone,” Dyson said. “It’s a matter of just getting better each and every day.”
