Wayne County Life

By John Addyman

   LYONS (Oct 15 10) --  Gina Pursati got stronger as the evening wore on, putting twin exclamation points on the last game with two thunderous kills as Lyons finished off Williamson tonight, 3-1, in Wayne County League volleyball action tonight.

   She and teammate Ryenn Smith had14 kills apiece, Esmine Riggins added four service aces, Taylor DiSanto contributed 22 assists and Jordan Smith had 18 more, while Jordan added seven blocks with Shaquana Tucker pushing back five shots herself.

   “It was a team effort,” said Lyons coach Matt Barr, whose team is now 15-0 with three games left on the schedule. “Lexi Buckley passed better, Ryenn was getting a lot of kills that were tips, Gina passed really well, and Anne Contario came in to get us the last three points. We’re not going to have just one person carry us too much.”

   Williamson kept things close. Lyons took the first game while the Marauders were still getting dry from the weather, 25-10. But then Williamson came back to win the second game, 25-23, and Lyons looked like it was suddenly trying to find itself. Lyons led just once in the game, at 21-18 when Riggins blocked a kill attempt by Williamson’s Samantha Scott, a big-time middle hitter. The Marauders caught their breath and counterattacked for the win.

   “In that second game, we passed and served poorly,” said Barr. “If we can’t pass and serve, it doesn’t matter what else we do.”

   The third game was close until the Lions’ service started to get more consistent in the latter half of the game as Lyons led 14-9, 17-10, and 20-12, pulling away. In the last game, the Lions got behind Riggins’ service and took a 10-2 lead after she stroked two aces, Jordan Smith made two blocks for point, and Ryenn Smith and Tucker made kills. From there, the teams traded points to the end, when Pursati finished off the Marauders with her last two kills.

   Lyons looked loose and Barr said the team has turned a corner.

   “We’ve improved tremendously,” he said. “We gained a lot of confidence last Saturday (in a tournament), and I was looking for a good game against Clyde-Savannah on Wednesday. The first time we played them, in Clyde, they took us to five games. That was not our best game.”

   On Wednesday, the Lions frosted Clyde-Savannah 25-17, 25-8 and 25-8.

   He shrugged off the fact his kids are 15-0.

   “I was just hoping we’d play well tonight,” he said. “We’re really not worried about our record. We want to win a league championship, that’s one of our goals, and then play well in sectionals. That’s all we’re concerned with.”

Ryenn Smith sets up a shot

      Williamson’s record falls to 9-4. Scott led the Marauders with eight kills.