KINGSPORT – The Blaine name is of Irish origin meaning “slender, angular.”
One might add “quick, explosive and powerful” when describing Science Hill senior middle blocker Chelsea Blaine.
Running the middle, but hitting from every spot at the net, Blaine hammered down 13 kills, notched six blocks and served two aces in Science Hill’s 25-21, 25-21, 23-25, 25-18 victory over Dobyns-Bennett Thursday evening at the Tribe Athletic Complex.
“It felt good,” said Blaine. “They got some good digs up on me, props to them, but it felt good to get those swings in.”
Blaine creamed perfectly timed sets from Ella Neal while also executing the slide play by sprinting to the pins.
“It (slide) is something new this year we just started doing and I’m really enjoying it,” continued Blaine. “Ella and I have really started getting more of a connection, really trying to run more fast-paced balls to keep everyone wondering what’s going to happen next, who is going to be set. And I’m really trying to work on a faster arm swing, too, so it’s more of an explosive swing.”
The first set was tied eight times before the Lady ‘Toppers (3-0, 10-1) took the lead for good at 12-11 on a kill by Bryleigh Scott. Eventually it was a Science Hill six-point spurt.
But the Lady Indians (1-1, 4-7) got back to within three at 18-15 before Addi Stables came up with a dig and hammered down a kill. After Dobyns-Bennett trimmed the margin to 19-17 on a Kiyah Blye kill, Claire Hunter picked up another Blye attack which Stables drilled down for a kill and Science Hill went on to take the first set.
The second stanza was much the same, very tight until the Lady ‘Toppers pulled away midway through. This time it was a Blaine block and a Neal ace that made it 17-13.
Dobyns-Bennett, playing without injured middle Lucy Roberts, fought back with a five-point run, three coming on aces from Anna Sluss.
“We missed Lucy, but I thought Anna Sluss stepped up big time,” said Dobyns-Bennett coach Kaycee Green.
Science Hill, however, claimed the final four points of the frame to take a two-set cushion.
The third set featured another ten deadlocks. A pair of Blye kills secured the victory forcing a fourth set.
The Lady ‘Toppers scored the first five points of the final frame and never trailed in en route to polishing off the victory. Down the stretch, Science Hill got a Stables kill, a Hunter block, a Blaine block and two more Blaine kills.
“I thought we kept our composure,” said Science Hill coach Laura Cook. “We don’t get stressed even though sometimes we hurt ourselves, we keep battling through mistakes.”
Stables came through with 14 kills, 11 digs and two aces.
“That’s what we need,” noted Cook. “We need that balance and I think we tried to run a balanced attack and make sure we passed well and were able to run a good offense.”
Ella Neal orchestrated that offense to the tune of 33 digs.
“Neal is always steady and solid,” Cook said. “She is really doing a great job running our offense. She is running a deceptive offense, trying to spread it out and making good decisions on who to go to.”
Bryleigh Scott chipped in with four kills and six blocks.
“The eye test for her kind of gets into people’s head,” continued Cook. “Bryleigh puts up a big block.”
Science Hill served 15 total aces in the match with Chloe Conner recording three to go with her three digs. Avery Bragg also boasted three aces while picking up 13 digs.
Campbell Hixson paced the defense with 19 digs while adding two aces. Neal served five aces and came up with ten digs.
Blye paced the Tribe offense with ten kills, Sluss delivered nine kills, Norah Shook seven, Jo McLain six and Caroline Smith five.
“I felt like we fought really well and we played faster,” said Green. “Overall, we had some issues with our offense. We weren’t as accurate as we normally are and we had some lulls in our energy in a couple of rotations and that cost us.”
Mela Brice dished out 40 assists and came up with 11 digs. for the Lady Indians. Arden Bateman brought up a team-high 16 digs and Jeslyn Hardin 11. Shook and Milly Wiliams chipped in with nine digs apiece. McLain and Sluss also authored a pair of blocks.
“Blocking I thought was killer and our coverage was really good, we’ve been working on that,” noted Green. “It’s a process and I'm not upset at all because there are things that we weren’t doing well before that we are doing well now.”
