HICKORY, N.C. — The fifth-ranked Catawba Valley Community College volleyball team dominated in its home opener on Tuesday night, knocking off Southwest Virginia in straight sets at the Tarlton Complex.
Set scores were 25-11, 25-14 and 25-10.
Catawba Valley head volleyball coach Shannon Hudson was pleased with her team's performance despite a slow start.
"We started off the first few points kind of rocky with playing on the big court, which we hadn't done yet this year. The first few points I think they were getting familiar with everything, but then they just took off," Hudson said. "We played really well on our side of the net and clicked as a team, which I was hoping we would be able to do early in the season. It was a nice win. It was nice to see the girls play together so well."
Sophomore Meredith Patterson led the Red Hawks (1-0) on the offensive attack with 10 kills and eight digs. Fellow sophomore Emma Clark added four kills, a team-high six blocks and three aces for CVCC, and another sophomore — Anna Clarke — had five kills and two blocks.
Defensively, Red Hawk libero Bre Myers recorded a team-high 10 digs and added three aces.
Freshman setter Amber Barker made a team-best 16 assists and five digs for Catawba Valley, while captain Macy Pope chipped in 10 assists and a team-high four aces.
As a team, the Red Hawks recorded 12 aces — something Hudson has worked on daily with her players in practice.
"We work hard on serves," she said. "That's just one of those things we try to push is consistency and putting a lot of pressure on the ball. I think we did that tonight."
With a win under its belt, the Catawba Valley volleyball team returns to action this weekend at the Owens Invitational in Perrysburg, Ohio.
The Red Hawks play two matches each on Saturday and Sunday, including a top-five nationally ranked match up against No. 2 Parkland, which has won its first eight matches this season without giving up a single set.
"Our real test will be this upcoming weekend in Ohio when we face some really tough competition," Hudson said. "It was nice to get this win under our belts and see the girls play well together. We're looking forward to a great weekend of competition for sure."
