By By KEVIN TRAVIS
Sports Editor
Washington was hoping to give seniors Blaklee Wolfe and Racheal Toler a victory in their final home volleyball match. However, the Jacksonville Cardinals made Wolfe and Toler settle for flowers and other gifts with a three-game sweep in Wednesday’s Coastal Conference regular-season finale.
Jacksonville (12-8, 7-7) stormed out to a 13-1 lead in the first game, setting the tone for a rough night for the Pack (0-20, 0-14), who went winless in regular-season play for the second straight year. The Cardinals posted a 25-5, 25-15, 25-11 victory.
“Our communication was down,” Washington coach Tara Hunter said.
That lack of talking confounded the coach, one day after the Pack turned in a solid performance at West Carteret.
“That was the most spectacular we played,” Hunter said of Tuesday’s match. “We were not that team tonight. We were back to our old habits. We weren’t talking, we weren’t moving our feet and we let (Jacksonville) control the pace.”
The Cardinals took a quick 4-0 lead that quickly went to 13-1 after nine straight points. Three consecutive missed serves didn’t allow Washington any offensive opportunities, as Jacksonville cruised to the victory.
The Cardinals went up 3-0 in the second game, but a tip by Wolfe and an ace by Haley Hiatt pulled the Pack within 4-3. After Jacksonville increased its lead to 11-6, a kill and a block by Jazzmin Gibbs cut the Pack deficit to 11-9.
However, the Cardinals scored the next 13 points for a 24-9 advantage.
Washington tried to rally, as Alex Everette served up five straight points. Wolfe, Hiatt and Erika Sullivan all played well at the net during that stretch, but the Cardinals held off the charge to get the win.
Once again, the Cardinals got off to a hot start in the third game, going up 3-0, 9-1, 11-3 and 19-5. Washington was never able to cut much into the deficit.
Hunter would have liked to have seen a better outcome for her two seniors, Wolfe and Toler.
“Blaklee and Racheal will be missed,” Hunter said. “They both have some excellent leadership qualities. They have different skills and assets they bring to the game.
“Blaklee has a great swing and Racheal is always talking and being positive. All those attributes will be missed by the team.”
The Pack is back on the court Saturday for the Coastal Conference Tournament, which will be held at South Central High School. Washington, the eighth seed, faces top-seeded D.H. Conley (unbeaten in conference play) at 9 a.m.
“We’ve played them twice this season, and the second time we played them we talked better and we moved better,” Hunter said. “We hated the way we played tonight so, hopefully, we can be positive and productive on Saturday.”