Lady Spartans Take Down Zumwalt East In Clean Sweep

Although the season debut against the Francis Howell Central Lady Spartans reaped nothing but a 2-0 non-conference loss, the feels good about the still new season. 

“I think this gives us a lot to look forward to,” Loyd said. “This is one of the top four or five teams in the GAC (Gateway Athletic Conference). We gave them a really good game so this gives us a lot to look forward to.”  

The Lady Spartans (2-0) won the first game 25-18.

“We have been coming out a little slow,” Howell Central coach Mark McAfee said on the first game. “To their credit, they lost a lot of people off last year’s team. I thought they played fairly well. I think once we got into a groove, we did some nice things. I think we played all right in the first game, but I think we have a lot more to do.” 

Zumwalt East controlled the second game in the early minutes and established a 5-0 lead. Although the Lady Spartans continued to put some points on the board, the Lions controlled the lead until late in the game.

The Lady Lions seemed to communicate and do much right throughout most of the second game. Alison Trost’s kill made the score 6-3. A kill from Brandy Young gave East a 10-6 advantage, and Taylor Edwards’ ace made the score 13-8. Edwards finished the contest with 18 digs. 

“I think we started serving more aggressively in the second game,” Loyd said. “We were able to keep them out of the system, and therefore we had more free balls we could convert.”

Trost was Zumwalt East's kill leader with seven. 

“She (Trost) came up huge,” Loyd said. “That was big for us because it started allowing an opportunity for the outside hitters to do what they needed to do.” 

The Lady Spartans wouldn’t go away and the tide turned late in the game. With Mary Emery serving, the Spartans put together a two-point run and Howell Central established its first lead (20-19). Sydney Miller’s kill made the score 23-21, Lady Spartans. Howell Central continued to own the lead until the end of the game, as the Lady Spartans won the second game 25-21.

McAfee said he felt his team passed the ball well in the second game but didn’t serve well. 

“It’s (serving) something that put us in the hole quite a bit,” McAfee said. “Being the second match of the season it’s kind of hard to determine what we’re going to me, but I think we’re better than we showed tonight.” 

Loyd said the Lady Lion’s might have played better defense at the net late in the second game. The Lady Lions return to action on at 6 p.m. Thursday with a match against Francis Howell North.