By By STEVE FRANKLIN, Sports Writer
PANTEGO — Terra Ceia had no answer for Hobgood’s Jamie Vanderford on Tuesday afternoon.
The Lady Raiders’ 6-foot middle hitter turned in a spectacular performance, coming up with 12 kills, 10 service points, 4 aces and two blocks to lead Hobgood past the Knights in straight sets, 25-11, 25-19, 25-19.
The Lady Raiders dominated game one behind Vandergood’s six service points and three kills. They also got a stellar game from Sarah Sykes who rattled off six straight service points in the 25-11 win.
In game two, the Knights jumped out to an early lead as Paige Roberson came up with four service points and Catherine Smith added a pair of kills to put Terra Ceia up 19-17.
But the Knights couldn’t hold the lead as Sykes delivered with precision serving. After an unforced error made it 19-18 in favor of Terra Ceia, Sykes strung together seven straight service points, including three aces to give Hobgood a 25-19 win set No. 2.
In the third set, Terra Ceia jumped out to its largest lead of the contest, going ahead 16-11 thanks to five straight service points by Roberson. Once again, they couldn’t hang on. Hobgood came roaring back to tie the game at 19-19, then closed out the contest behind six straight service points from Haley Williams.
In all, the Knights committed 28 unforced errors on Tuesday.
Roberson led the Knights (1-1) with 10 service points and added five kills, while Smith had five kills as well, and Kristin Alons added three kills.
The Lady Raiders (4-2) were led by Vanderford in kills, blocks and aces, while Sykes paced Hobgood with 15 service points.
The Knights will look to bounce back from the loss on Thursday when they take on Pungo.