The Davidson Raiders senior girls volleyball team put up a great effort making it to the championship game at their home tournament Oct. 5, but couldn’t handle a tough Imperial Cougars team once they got there.

Raiders coach Tony Baldwin said his girls got off to a slow start in the final game and then suffered through some confusion on the court. He said that took a bit of the steam out of their sails against Imperial, but he also credits the Cougars with playing strong to get the win.

“In general we played pretty well,” said Baldwin. “Imperial had a great game. (Cougars player) Kennedy Lewis in particular played phenomenally well and when she’s playing at the net like that it’s pretty hard to get things done some days, but it was a good game.”

The Raiders and Cougars were evenly matched during the first set before Imperial stepped up the pace halfway through coming out with a 25-18 win. The Cougars led the majority of the second set and despite a comeback by Davidson halfway through pulled out a second 25-18 victory taking the championship plaque.

Imperial coach Earl LeBlanc said his team picked up their game in the final against Davidson compared to their round-robin loss against the Raiders earlier in the tournament. He said the Raiders played great, but his girls’ hard work this season on improving their fitness level helped them stay strong in the final.

“Earlier in the season fatigue was getting to us,” said LeBlanc. “Now fatigue is no longer an issue, so because of that we weren’t making a lot of mistakes at the end of the game. Probably the difference in the way we played (in the final) was the fact that our girls were still playing fresh and really working.”

LeBlanc said the Davidson crew did a good job putting together their home tournament by bringing in a mix of different quality teams, which helps his girls prepare for future games this year as they try to make it to provincials next month. He said it was extra special for his girls to play in this tournament as half of his team and three players on the Davidson side play together with the Imperial Scorpions club team.

Raiders middle Quin Johnson said Davidson “grounded off” against Imperial, but they are still proud of making it to the final game considering they had to best a tough Kahkewistahaw Hurricanes club in the semi-final game to make it that far. She said the Raiders shift coverage shined throughout the tournament, but they have to work on their mental game as they prepare for conferences to be played at Davidson the first weekend in November.

“We definitely get down on ourselves and that is one of our weak points,” said Quin. “If we get down a few points then it’s difficult to get back up, (but) I think one big hit and we’re back in.”

To read more please see the October 14 print edition of The Davidson Leader.