Mason County volleyball breezed past Augusta for a 2-0 (25-13, 25-18) win on Thursday night.

Right from the start the serving from the Lady Royals led the way as they racked up points quickly in the first set.

Ace after ace came for Alyssa Cracraft who finished with five in the first set and eight total for the game.

Most of Cracraft’s first set saves came within a few minutes of play as Mason County jumped out to a 9-2 lead.

“I’ve been working really hard on my serving,” Cracraft said. “I used to jump serve a lot but those just weren’t working for me this season, so I’ve really focused on working on my flat-footed serve and I think it’s really paid off in the gym. Getting lots of aces this season – that’s my goal.”

With Kamryn Fryman chipping in a pair of aces of her own, the Lady Royals had started things off on the right foot.

After a sluggish start to game Augusta started to pick up their play as the first set continued. With Mason County committing a few service errors one after another the Lady Panthers had an opportunity to put some points on the board.

Kaylee Browning sparked the offense up by snagging a few kills to get things going for Augusta. Browning would finish the game with a team-high five kills.

The Lady Panthers fought back to bring the score to 12-10, but as time went by the errors piled up and their offense began to fall flat.

Augusta coach Roy Machen liked the fight he saw from his team at the start of the first set, but emphasized the need to not wear down and let the score slip away from them.

“District is what we’re prepping for with nights like tonight,” Machen said. “In our mind all of these games are preparation for the big dance at district so we want to make sure we get our mistakes out beforehand and hold onto these close ones.”

With the Lady Panthers committing a series of errors and a handful of service errors, Mason County began to pull away and won the first 25-13. The Lady Panthers had seven errors and three service errors in the mistake filled set.

The second set opened up to a back-and-forth battle as both teams tried to swing the momentum in their favor.

After even play on both sides and a timeout from the Lady Panthers, the score was tied at 7-7.

Michaela Remley’s three kills were a key part of Augusta’s offense at the start of the second set. Whenever the Lady Royals started to pull away, Remley was there to keep the score close.

However, as the second set went on Meya Myrick would be the difference-maker on offense for Mason County. Her game-high eight kills on the night helped the Lady Royals stretch their lead out to 22-12 towards the end of the set.

When it looked like things were over, Augusta pulled together for one last run and brought the score to 22-18 before a service error handed Mason County the ball back.

Lady Royals head coach Kortney Mills was proud of her team for holding off the last run, and preached the importance of practice for prepping her team for the big moments.

“We’ve really been working on avoiding simple mistakes and simple small errors. Making sure that everything’s clean and especially covering the middle of the floor,” Mills said. “We’ve been rearranging our defense to make sure that someone’s always there to cover that spot because mistakes when you’re on the wrong side of a run like that will kill you.”

After fending off the last push from the Lady Panthers, Mason County closed out the second set with a 25-18 win.

The win puts the Lady Royals at 7-12 on the season and with nine games left on their schedule, they’ve already reached the same number of wins as they had last season. Mason County’s next game will come against Fleming County on September 24.

With the loss, Augusta is now 5-12 and will have a chance to equal their win total from last year at their next game against Pendleton County on September 24.

LADY ROYALS DEF. LADY PANTHERS 2-0 (25-13, 25-18)

AUGUSTA—13-18—0

MASON COUNTY—25-25—2

Match Stats:

Kills: Augusta 12 (Browning 5), Mason County 18 (Myrick 8)

Aces: Augusta 5 (Thoroughman 2), Mason County 12 (Cracraft 8)

Errors: Augusta 11, Mason County 9

Service Errors: Augusta 9, Mason County 5

Records: Augusta 5-12, Mason County 7-12

Mason County’s Alyssa Cracraft (19) pushes the ball over the net as Augusta’s Madeline Darnell (6) and Alexis Shields (8) defend at the net. Cracraft had eight aces as the Lady Royals won the match, 2-0, Thursday, at The Fieldhouse. (Evan Dennison, The Ledger Independent)
https://maysville-online.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_Mason-volleyball-3.jpgMason County’s Alyssa Cracraft (19) pushes the ball over the net as Augusta’s Madeline Darnell (6) and Alexis Shields (8) defend at the net. Cracraft had eight aces as the Lady Royals won the match, 2-0, Thursday, at The Fieldhouse. (Evan Dennison, The Ledger Independent)

Jake Garza