Lions remain undefeated with 3-0 win over Enka

ACA volleyball improves to 18-0 with four matches to play

Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
October 6, 2022

The ACA volleyball team has accomplished a lot on the court since opening its 2022 campaign in August, but the one thing it hadn’t done, entering its Oct. 5 home match against Enka, was lose.

As the Lions returned to Swannanoa from a six-game road stretch, their 3-0 victory over the Sugar Jets moved them one step closer to a flawless regular season record.

Led by sophomore Haleigh Kamer’s 12 kills and senior Katie Alexander’s 31 assists, ACA improved to 18-0, with four matches left on its regular season schedule. The Lions, who won the NCISAA 3A state championship in 2020 and finished as runner-ups in 2021, have lost only four sets this season.

The Wednesday night matchup between ACA and Enka, which was 11-5 coming into the contest, opened with a pair of touching tributes by the home team and 12th-year head coach Torri Render. The team recognized a third-grade teacher for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and celebrated the recovery of a former ACA student who suffered severe injuries in a car crash in April.

An emotional Render and her team presented the former student, a daughter of a kindergarten teacher at the school, with gifts and flowers before taking the court.

As play began, the Sugar Jets jumped out to an early 3-point advantage over the Lions, who seized their first lead of the contest on one of sophomore outside hitter Jadyn Walters’ 8 eight kills. Enka battled back to go up, 7-6, but ACA scored 5 straight points on their way to a 25-16 victory to open the match.

The teams were knotted at 16-16 in a tightly contested second set, before the Lions outscored the Sugar Jets, 9-2, to take a 2-0 lead. ACA would go on to lead the final set by as many 7 points, as it clinched the match with a 25-19 performance.

The victory came as the team prepares to travel to High Point Christian Academy, Friday, Oct. 7, for its final road match of the season, which ACA will close out with three consecutive home contests. Render, who coached the program to a 27-0 mark in 2017, is not surprised by her team’s success on the court.

“I knew we’d be strong because most of our starters came back, since we only lost three players from last year’s roster,” said the coach, who guided the Lions to state championships in 2014, 2017 and 2020. “We had high expectations, but I wouldn’t say I thought we’d be 18-0.”

Render attributes her team’s strong performance to chemistry.

“These girls have played together for a long time,” she said. “We have an older group, with 10 out of our 12 players being upperclassmen, and I have six seniors who play really well together. These players love each other, and they’re great teammates. This fall has been a lot of fun.”

The Lions will return to their home court at 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 11, when they host Rabun Gap-Nacoochee in a Carolina Conference matchup. The teams last met in September when ACA defeated the Eagles, 3-0.

Photos of the Lions victory over Enka can be viewed in the gallery at the top of the page.