EC's season ends

Johnsonville eliminates Lady Wolverines from 1A playoffs

Trevor Zion Bauknight / The Item Johnsonville's Olivia Hatchell (right) powers a shot past East Clarendon's Louise Benton, middle, during the Lady Flashes' 3-0 win over ECHS in the semifinal round of the 1A state playoffs on Monday at the East Clarendon gymnasium.

By TREVOR ZION BAUKNIGHT
Item Sports Writer

TURBEVILLE — Sitting on the bench after her last high school match, East Clarendon High School senior volleyball standout Adri Watford summed up her team's season-ending loss to Johnsonville in the semifinal round of the 1A state playoffs.

“They put us out every year,” Watford sighed. “We did well, but we didn't do everything.”

The Lady Wolverines fell 3-0 to the perennial 1A volleyball powerhouse, losing the first game 25-13, the second 25-15 and the deciding game in the best-of-5 match 25-18. East Clarendon ends its season with an 18-3 record.

Johnsonville, now 17-4 on the season, moves on to face the winner of Monday's match between top-seeded Branchville and Academic Magnet for the lower state title.

Prior to the start of the 1A state playoffs, East Clarendon head coach Judy Coker said her team was focused on each game, but that it always has an eye on Johnsonville come playoff time.

On Monday, she said her team was just not ready for Johnsonville's game.

“We worked so hard and so long on handling their serves,” Coker said. “We knew that there were going to be bullets coming at us, and they used several trick plays that threw us off where the ball was going to go, and they're good at it.

“Our seniors basically handled them, for the most part, the best we ever have,” she added. “This was one of the strongest game that we've played all season. We played them in a scrimmage early in the season, and we knew what we were up against. They have height and they're good at tipping the ball and placing it where it needs to be.”

Watford, Louise Benton, Laura Browder, Erin Owens, Hannah Mitchell and Mary Elizabeth Anderson were the six seniors playing their last game for ECHS. Six juniors and a sophomore will try again next year.

The Lady Flashes got big contributions from their tall hitters on the front row, particularly from the towering middle hitter Savannah Gaster, well over six feet tall, and Olivia Hatchell, both fed consistently nice passes by Taylor Bennett and Ashlyn Cribb.

Watford led EC offensively with five kills, although the absence of injured primary setter Sheila Tomlinson left EC without consistency it needed up front to mount sustained offensive sequences.

Erin Owens contributed seven assists and senior middle Louise Benton scored on a pair of nice blocks and added 10 service points.

East Clarendon hung close with the Lady Flashes in each of the three games, at least for half a game. Tied 13-13 in Game 2, Johnsonville reeled off nine straight points and won by 10. In Game 3, Johnsonville blew open a 13-9 game to run the score to 19-10 before coasting to a 7-point win.

“We knew that they had gotten better (since an early-season scrimmage in which EC won a game against the Lady Flashes),” said Benton. “We had gotten better, and we were just waiting for this game. We were excited because it was finally at home, and it's never at home.

“We were really pumped up for this game,” she said. “It just didn't go our way.”