Indians fall in three

FORT DEFIANCE – A strong team effort lead Turner Ashby to victory in three games over Fort Defiance in non-district action on Thursday.
The Knights ran the table against the Indians 25-23, 25-19, 25-13 on Thursday night at Fort Defiance.
The Indians started strong in Game 1 jumping out to a quick lead behind Jessica Clifton’s strong serving. TA responded quickly tying it up then going ahead by four points.
The lead changed repeatedly with point being traded for point. Time outs were called at 20-23 and 23-23. Each coach looking to motivate their team. In the end it was a cut shot from TA’s Jenny Anne Flory, followed by a kill from Beth Rhodes that put it away for the Knights.
“I thought my girls came out and played really hard,” said Knights coach Gina Troyer, “They had great enthusiasm, and never gave up.”
Game 2 saw strong play from Mara Hogan at the service line and Rhodes and Flory at the net. The Indians struggled to keep up with the hard charging Knights. They fought back hard, the tension and excitement palpable in the gym, as Fort closed gap. In the end they were able to cut the deficit to six, losing 24-19.
“TA is probably the toughest team we are going to see all year for sure,” said Fort coach Lynn Alexander. “We knew they were gonna be hard and we knew they were probably going be the hardest team we would see all year.”
Game 3 proved to be the undoing for Fort. TA jumped out to six-point lead with an ace from Kate Shickel to start, and strong forecourt play from Rhodes, Alyssa Pennington and Foley. As the Knights hustled the Indians struggled to stay in the game. The Knights defense turned back any effort the tiring Fort squad mustered.
“It showed on the floor that we were tired,” Alexander said. “You are not going to win against a team like TA if you don’t have 100 percent full time.”
Fort Defiance will travel to Waynesboro on Tuesday for a Southern Valley District match.