Lady Dragons return from quarantine
After two weeks out of action, due to a team-wide COVID-19 quarantine, the Cameron Lady Dragons showed little ring rust in their return to the court.
Despite coming into Tuesday’s game with less than three days of practice since the two-week quarantine, the Lady Dragons took 2019 state quarterfinalist East Buchanan to five sets - 25-18, 22-25, 23-25, 26-24 and 11-15 - in the losing effort.
“Two weeks off is a lot for the girls just to not be around each other or practice at all,” Cameron coach Addie Floyd said. “I told the girls in the locker room I was proud of them and they did really well. We made some mistakes, but we hadn’t been able to go over those things so we know what to do. Overall, I am extremely proud of the girls. They hustled and don’t look like they’ve been off for two weeks.”
The Lady Dragons kicked off the game with a first-set rout. An errant shot by East Buchanan set up match point and junior outside hitter Avery McVicker closed it out with a spike. Ring rust may have impacted Cameron in the second set loss, but they traded scores with East Buchanan until a controversial net violation on match point gave the Lady Bulldogs another victory.
Tuesday night senior Aly Yates showed McVicker is not the only strong arm opponents should worry about after multiple point-saving digs and kills - including one on match point in extra sets to give Cameron a 26-24 to push the game to a fifth and final set.
“I know it’s my senior year and I have friends from East Buchanan so I went all out because I knew I wasn’t going to see them again,” Yates said. “[The Saturday and Sunday practices] weren’t rough, but we were rusty for sure. [Tuesday night] we were a well-oiled machine.”
The Lady Dragons took an early lead in the fifth on a pair of blocks by junior middle blocker Olivia Moore and a kill by McVicker, but they could not keep their momentum and fell 15-11. Floyd said the Lady Dragons will face their toughest test of the season Thursday on the road against Midland Empire Conference foe St. Pius X, then they host another tough MEC team in Maryville Saturday.
“Right now, our record is 4-4 but it doesn’t matter because we’ve been playing some tough teams. What really matters is districts. That’s what we’re fighting for right now and we’re getting better every game,” Floyd said.
