By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

GREENVILLE — The Lady Wave volleyball team swept Xenia at home on Aug. 29 to improve their record to 4-3 and 2-2 in conference play.

The team is coming off a 3-1 win at Troy, their first win over Troy since 2006. Assistant coach Jim Hardesty said he thought it meant a lot to the girls to get that win over Troy and that feeling carried over to this game.

Head coach Michelle Hardesty said the team is setting the bar high so far this season. In their last five games, they have gone 4-1.

“They recognize the issues and we talk about them, ask them to stay focus. They’re pulling out the wins here,” Hardesty said.

The first set started off a bit shaky. Within Xenia’s first nine points, three of them came from service errors by the Lady Wave.

But the team settled down and started to hit their stride from behind the serving line. Greenville slowly started to collect aces and started to get Xenia out of system.

Junior Brooke Schmidt was a force to start out the match. She had four kills early in the set. Greenville climbed out of their early deficit to tie the game at 12-12.

Xenia fought hard and made it tough for Greenville to run away with the set, but the Lady Wave got a comfortable lead and held on. They won the first set 25-21 after junior Shyanne Gibboney ended the set with an ace. Greenville had 17 kills as a team in the set.

Hardesty said it takes them a while to get going. But they have responded well after they get over a sluggish start.

“It takes us a full rotation to settle in and figure out what we need to be doing and where we need to put the ball. I don’t get too excited until the first rotation goes all the way through,” Hardesty said. “They usual throw it together pretty well.”

The second set was all Greenville as they won 25-12. The team grabbed an early 8-1 lead then Xenia started to fight back.

But the Green Wave kept their momentum going and cruised through the set. Gibboney had four aces in the last five points for Greenville to close the set.

Gibboney also was a major contributor in the passing game. Jim Hardesty said passing was the key to get the offense going in the match and Gibboney had a big hand in that.

In the third set, Xenia continued to fight hard and made it a close set when it looked like Greenville was going to run away with it early.

A 15-9 lead was cut down to a 16-15 Greenville lead. But from that point, Greenville scored nine straight points to get the sweep at home.

Schmidt finished the game with 19 kills. Both coaches said she has stepped up during the early part of the season and her teammates have been there to help her succeed on the court.

“Brooke had another strong night with 19 kills on 32 attempts,” Jim Hardesty said.

“That’s amazing. It’s a team effort too. You have to have a good pass, set has to be there for her to perform. She’s going to execute every time she gets the opportunity,” Michelle Hardesty said.

Senior Skylar Bryson was second on the team in kills with 8. Sophomore Kyndall Burke had six, junior Olivia Flatter had four and senior Ava Loudy had three.

Hardesty said she is blessed with the talent and effort her team has given her to start this season. She is excited to see what the team does the rest of the way.

Next up will be a road trip to Stebbins for another conference matchup on Aug. 31 with a 7 p.m. start.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]