Patton has dream regular season

By: Staff Reports | sports@morganton.com
Published: October 20, 2009

Morganton --

Days after clinching the South Mountain Athletic Conference title, Patton's volleyball team put the exclamation point on their season with a 3-0 win over East Rutherford, the last opponent in their conference schedule.
On Thursday, the Panthers played spoiler to East Rutherford on their Senior Night. "East came out in game one with a very aggressive offense," said Coach Sarena Fuller. Despite the Cavaliers motivated start, the Panthers put away Game 1, 25-19.
East Rutherford showed that same intensity in game two, when they jumped out to a 19-10 lead off of solid defense and a string of ace serves. "At that point in the game, we just couldn't seem to put anything together anywhere," Fuller said.
That is, until the 19th Cavalier point, when Patton senior Sarah King was taken out of the game with a bloody nose. Due to substitution rules, no other player could play in her place at that point in the game. The Panthers were then forced to continue with only five players on the court.
Patton quickly changed its game plan and attacked, scoring 10 unanswered points and rallying to a 25-21 victory. King returned for game three, where the Panthers momentum carried them to a 25-19 win.
"I've never seen such an awesome display of teamwork and heart. Coming from nine points behind with only five players showed their tremendous will to win," Fuller said.
And win they have. The Panthers finished conference play 10-2, sweeping their opponents in straight sets in seven of the 10 wins, including the last four games.of conference games. The schedule included Freedom, Chase and East Rutherford, who were all battling for top spots in the conference.
"All of those teams tested us in different ways," Fuller said. "Freedom handed us our first conference loss of the season, so that game was a huge emotional challenge. Chase's libero and defense frustrated us, and East Rutherford's aggressive hitters kept our back row busy."
Patton's offense has combined for 492 kills, led by Courtney Causby with 164, King with 113, Sarah Millner with 87 and Nya Michaux with 47 kills. In fact, all players on the roster have contributed to the kill total. Senior Caroline Vinesett and junior Paige Ramseur split the assists with 199 and 192 respectively.
Last season's stellar back row defense returned, and Bailey Hewat and Desirae Cooper combined for a 97 percent passing rate. Adding depth to the defense was the improved blocking. The team combined for 401 blocks. Serving aces totaled 216, led by Vinesett, Ramseur and Lindsay Auton.
"Every player on this team has contributed to the wins, and the team definitely wouldn't be the same without all nine of these girls," Fuller said.
State playoffs begin Saturday, and No. 1 seed Patton will host Crest, the No. 4 seed from the Big South Conference on Saturday.

Patton has dream regular season

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