PURVIS – Purvis is right on schedule for another deep run in the high school volleyball playoffs.
The Tornadoes shrugged off a mid-match lull and polished off Bay High in the second round of the Class 4A playoffs 3-1 (25-18, 25-9, 23-25, 25-19) Tuesday night at the Purvis Gymnasium.
Purvis (27-8) advanced to the third round and will host Pass Christian on Thursday as the Tornadoes seek a second consecutive trip to the 4A finals. The Tigers finished their season 15-22.
“We did start really strong at the net tonight,” said Purvis coach Kaitlyn Aycock. “We got locked in really, really quick. We worked really hard on effectively running an offense against teams that are really good on defense, and Bay High has a very strong defense.”
Purvis got it done with its trademark combination of offense at the net and defense in the middle of the court.
“I thought we played a solid, all-around game,” said senior Hattie Tynes. “Our outsides were kind of struggling early, but they picked it up, and our middles had their best game of the season. They were just killing it on defense.
“We work on that in practice a lot with our run-throughs and our libero (senior Alice Carroll) is very good at getting to balls. Everybody else on defense knows which balls are theirs and where they need to be.”
Tynes finished with 17 assists and sophomore Presley Long had 18 assists for Purvis
Bay High brought a defensive-minded approach to the match, but while the Tigers were able to keep rallies going, they weren’t able to consistently counter the Tornadoes’ advantage on the front line.
That was demonstrated in the opening set, as 10 of Purvis’ 25 points came off kills. Senior Saylor Fletcher got Purvis going with back-to-back kills to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead.
The Tigers retied the set twice, at 3-3 and 8-8, but Purvis went on a 5-0 run, keyed by a pair of kills by junior Ellie Saffle, and Bay never got closer than three points the rest of the way.
Fletcher, who specializes as a middle blocker, had four of her team-high 14 kills in the opening set.
“We knew they were going to be tough competition, so I knew I had to come out strong,” said Fletcher. “I just told my setters that any good pass set to me, I was going to put the ball down any way I could.
“I have a great relationship with my setters. They listen to me and they make smart decisions. They’re awesome.”
The second set showed just how good Purvis can be when everything is clicking. The Tornadoes had two separate runs of 9-1 in the set, including the final 10 points of the set, and were never threatened.
“Everybody engaged in the same goal at the same time that second set,” said Aycock. “Our middle was really engaged and our outside was sound. I thought that second set we showed what we’re capable of.
“We just tried to control our side of the net, and not worry about anything else. They could play carefree because they were so far ahead.”
It looked like more of the same at the start of the third set, as Purvis jumped out to a 3-0 lead. But the Tigers showed their mettle by rallying with a 6-1 run to take the lead, and it was back-and-forth throughout the set.
Purvis opened up a four-point lead on two occasions in the third set, at 12-8 and 20-16, but Tiger senior libero Nadia Lewis used an effective jump serve to rally her team on a 6-0 run that put Bay High on top 22-20.
The Tornadoes saved two set points, but an unforced error won it for the Tigers, forcing a fourth set.
“I think we came out the third game a little rough,” said sophomore Brailyn Coggins. “They were able to get some good points on us, and once they got on a couple of runs, we kind of got down on ourselves a little bit.
“But we came out after that game wanting it a little bit more, and we knew we had to fight for it.”
Purvis used its superior depth to good effect in the deciding fourth set, using different combinations to finally get the measure of the Tigers.
“I told the kids that it was OK, just a little bump in the road, that we could overlook it,” said Aycock. “We knew we were capable of winning, regardless of that third set.”
Coggins stepped up her game in the final set and was a big factor on offense and defense. Four times in the fourth set, Coggins made a play to regain the serve for the Tornadoes, twice on kills. She finished with nine kills and six blocks.
“We were able to use a lot of players, and even when we shut ourselves down a little bit, we had players come in to lift us up.” said Coggins. “We all read the court really well, and where to place the ball.”
It was fitting that match point should be delivered on a kill by Fletcher, a powerful spike from the right side of the court.
“We knew preparing for this team that they were a well-coached , strong defensive team,” said Aycock. “We hoped that we could keep our defense strong and take over on offense, and I thought we did that.”
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