Kinston defeats Pleasant Home in area

By Andrew Garner (Contact) | Andalusia Star-News

Published Monday, October 12, 2009

Pleasant Home’s Jordan McGhee sets the ball Monday at Kinston.

KINSTON — The Kinston Lady Bulldogs defeated Pleasant Home 3-0 in the Class 1A, Area 2 tournament Monday in Kinston.

Kinston dominated the match, winning 25-6, 25-12, 25-8.

Kinston coach Janie Wiggins said she feels her team is “improving” heading into the playoffs.

“I just felt like that they are improving and hopefully they’ll peak at the right time,” Wiggins said.

Since Kinston (21-16) won its area tournament, the Lady Bulldogs will host the Class 1A, Regional A tournament on Saturday. The first match will be between Kinston and the runner-up of the Area 1 tournament at 10 a.m.

Pleasant Home coach Jerry Davis said Monday’s match came down to who was the “better” team.

“We’re not playing in a dream world,” Davis said. “It’s real and we know that they’re better than us. But, the thing that happens now is that we’ll probably — and I don’t know who won over there in Area 1 — but more than likely those people won’t be better than us.

“So, we’ve got a legitimate chance, and we feel good about playing Saturday morning,” he said.

Davis said the key Saturday is for his players to make the “routine” plays.

“We did things really well in spots (Monday),” he said. “Pretty much, we’re all rotating properly. Sometimes we don’t make any routine plays. Today, we ran no offense.

“We’re going to work hard on hitting the ball this week,” he said. “We haven’t served the ball all that well. The girls will feel better about things come Saturday. I think they knew that they were going to have one put on them (Monday).”

Despite the loss, Davis said his team is keeping their heads up.

“I’ve just preached all year long that we’ve got a chance the way the region is lined up this year,” Davis said. “That’s what they’re looking to.”

On offense, Kinston’s Emily Mock had eight kills, Marika Whitehurst had seven kills, and Amber Smith had seven aces.

On defense, Kinston’s Macie Sanders had 14 digs, Bethany Holley had nine digs, Sara Mock had 12 assists and Amber Smith had 11 assists.

Wiggins said the main key for her team Saturday was execution.

“Consistency and teamwork are the two main things we’re focusing on right now in preparation for Saturday,” she said. “We’re just trying to peak at the right time. We know we’re looking at Providence (Christian Academy), most likely in our second match. “Whoever wins that is most likely going to face off with probably Pleasant Home or Ariton in the championship,” she said.

Pleasant Home will play the Area 1 winner at 11:15 a.m.