GARNETT — Reese Curry’s night on the volleyball court included two service aces, 23 kills, six digs, and one jaw-dropping TKO.
The Iola High senior had been set up perfectly for a potential kill, with teammate Kaysin Crusinbery tapping the ball into Curry’s direction.
Curry connected with all her might, sending the volleyball over the net like a lightning bolt — and squarely into the face of an Anderson County player who was a split-second too late with the block attempt.
The player dropped to the floor immediately, causing concerns she may have been injured, before she arose with a sheepish smile.
“She’s gonna be hurting,” Iola head coach Amanda Holman said after Iola completed the straight-set victory, winning 25-19 and 25-17.
That followed the Mustangs’ 26-24 and 25-21 straight-set win over Burlington to lift Iola’s record to 15-8 overall, with seven victories in the team’s last eight matches.
The matches were in many ways a microcosm of Iola’s season to date, Holman noted.
The Mustangs battled back and forth with Burlington before emerging at the end of both sets, “which was a little too close for me,” Holman said. “But a win’s a win.”
Likewise, Iola stumbled out of the gate against Anderson County, and the Bulldogs’ raucous student cheering section.
Anderson County scored the first three points en route to a 7-2 lead, prompting Holman to call an early timeout.
Her message was simple.
“I basically told them to want the ball,” she said. “We let four balls drop without getting a body on it. If the ball’s on the floor, the body’s gotta be on the floor.”
Message delivered.
Iola clawed back to even things at 10-10 before taking control with three straight points with Dally Curry at the service line followed by a four-point run served up by Crusinbery.
“We played some good ball tonight,” Holman said. “We just have to clean up some of our errors, but that’s my only thing to complain about. Anderson County is a solid team.”
