Sports
Girls Volleyball: Albany Rolls Over Piedmont 3-0
Holt's breakout day propelled the Cougars to the win.
Albany 3, Piedmont 0
Records: Albany 6-3, 4-0 Bay Shore League, Piedmont 2-3, 2-3.
The Star: Kyra Holt had the big game her coach had been looking for, smashing 19 kills.
Find out what's happening in Albanywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The Turning Point: The Highlanders closed the Cougars' lead to 22-20 in the second set, but Albany clamped down to win the set and carried the momentum into the third.
The Quote: "We're very talented individually, but we're very young and don't have a lot of strength together on the court. So we're slowly but surely bringing them along and developing more team chemistry out there. Tonight, it showed out a little bit better, that we were playing more as a team than we were as individuals," Worsley said.
Find out what's happening in Albanywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Who's Next? Albany hosts the Cougar Challenge tournament this Saturday, with Las Lomas, Benicia and Branson High School attending. Their first match is at 8:30 a.m. against Las Lomas.
The Bottom Line: Albany's dominant victory gives them momentum heading into its tournament this weekend.
——————————
Kyra Holt was the difference-maker on the Albany High girls' volleyball team Thursday.
Her team-leading 19 kills propelled the Cougars to a three-game victory over Piedmont, 25-12, 25-20, 25-19.
It was the presence her coach had been looking for since the season started.
"She finally came around to being the hitter that we expected her to be," coach Roger Worsley said. "She had not been that player up to this point."
Albany dominated the first set and then fought a contentious second. The Cougars pulled out to a 19-13 lead, but the Highlanders fought back to make it a two-point game. Then Holt took over. She smashed two of her nine kills to put the set away.
"She's struggled a little bit on just really fine tuning her arm swing. Tonight, I wanted her to emphasize a high extension and reach in her swing, and she finally got a hold of that," he said.
Holt agreed with him.
"I felt like that was true. I feel that I came in prepared and I feel like I need to do that every single game," she said.
Holt knows she could do even better.
"I felt my performance was great," she said. "It was good, but I feel like I need a little bit more work."
She said her serves and passes could improve.
Piedmont made one final run late in the third set. The team closed a seven-point deficit to just two before McKenzie Giblin's pass setup Kari Castanon-Hill's kill shot, which helped Albany pull away for good.
The Highlanders gave Albany its only league defeat last season, a 3-1 home loss. Worsley tried to play down the significance of seeking retribution to his team before the match.
"This is a new year, new season. The revenge factor is not going to be the same this year," he said. "I'm sure that was in the back of their minds a little bit and they certainly wanted to make sure that they came out and had a good outing."
Emma Marquez-Shaw recorded six kills and Sarah Dudas chipped in five. Audrey Irvine-Broque notched 30 assists.
