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Ragin' Bulls rally, stay in tie for first place in SPC

Photo by James Nix

Kim Tannquay (14) and the Hickory Ridge Ragin' Bulls celebrate a point against Concord Tuesday night in Concord.

By Steve Winzenread | Independent Tribune

Published: October 13, 2009

CONCORD — The Hickory Ridge volleyball team stayed tied for first place, and the Ragin' Bulls did it by bouncing back.

Competing at Concord on the Spiders' Senior Night, the Bulls dropped game one, then took the next three in a 23-25, 25-13, 26-24, 25-18 South Piedmont 3A Conference victory.

"We knew this was going to be tough," said Hickory Ridge coach Patti Chason. "We just had to step it up.

"We've been playing better. We're gelling as a group. I knew we had it in us. I'm just thrilled that they stuck with it and did it."

The Spiders, trying to create a three-way tie for second with a win, scored four of the last five points and eight of the final 10 to win game one.

But the Bulls shrugged off that setback to dominate game two.

In pivotal game three, Hickory Ridge led 22-16 before Heather Wilson paced a Spiders' rally that carried Concord to a 24-23 lead.

A mis-hit created a 24-all tie, and Megan Yeargin served two aces for a 26-24 Bulls' win.

"We didn't miss many (serves)," Chason said. "That's kind of been our downfall the last couple of games, our serving."

In game four, Concord trailed 20-14, then pulled within 20-17, but kills by Kim Tannquay and Yeargin helped the Bulls regain control, and Kristen Smith's block ended the match.

Smith was 14 for 14 hitting with 6 kills, 3 solo blocks, 5 assisted blocks and 19 digs.

Tannquay added 6 kills, 4 solo blocks and 4 assisted blocks; Hannah Harper 14 assists and 7 digs; Alex Vliet 15 kills and 12 digs; and Yeargin 15 assists and 8 digs.

For Concord, Wilson had 17 kills and 11 assists, Katie Beecher 10 kills and Tara Trahey 9 kills and 7 assists.

The Spiders were coming off their five-game win over Mount Pleasant last Thursday.

"You never know who's going to show up," Chason said. "You never know until the last whistle blows who's going to come out victors."

With Mount Pleasant beating Jay M. Robinson on Tuesday, the Tigers and Bulls are tied for first place with one game left in the regular season.

While Mount Pleasant will be a solid favorite to beat Central Cabarrus on Thursday, Hickory Ridge hosts Robinson, which is alone in third place.

"It's a hard schedule," Chason said. "That's our Senior Night."

Going into Tuesday's game, Concord had a chance to wind up in a four-way tie for first place.

"To have that type of competition and competitive level of play, it's a blessing," said Concord coach Leanne Havely. "I don't mind losing if we play the best we can play. I don't think tonight was the best we could do, but we did a lot of things right.

"We have a lot of things to work on. It's not over. There's still the conference tournament. I really think that could go to anybody. It's an emotional night. It's Senior Night. It's tough. But we'll be all right."