With five combined trips to the state volleyball tournament over the past three years, neither Cleveland nor Sale Creek wasted time testing its power to begin what each hopes is another extraordinary season.
After losing in last year's season opener to the eventual Class A state runners-up, Cleveland's AAA Lady Raiders flashed brilliant defense Monday in a road sweep of the Lady Panthers.
Amy McGowan was left catching her breath at times in her head coaching debut with Cleveland, as her team repeatedly kept rallies alive by chasing down what looked to be sure points for Sale Creek.
"We always reference Sale Creek as being scrappy," McGowan said after her Lady Raiders won 25-15, 25-12, 25-16. "We said, 'You know what? We want to be scrappy, too.' We've been doing a lot of drills in practice just to make that happen.
"We were a scrappy team tonight. There were balls where I was like oh my gosh, but what's great is the girls are hustling and keeping the ball in play like that in practice, too."
In a tight first set with her team looking for momentum up 18-15, Cleveland junior libero Elliott Brock led a closing 7-0 run with great placement on her serves.
Joy Douglass and Lily Oliver combined for 11 kills and continually provided damage in key situations against a new-look Sale Creek team which lost two middle blockers, a setter, a libero and an outside hitter from last year's group that produced two college players.
"We are scrappy still, but we don't have the power or size we did last year," said first-year coach Erin Hill, who took over the program from her mom, Debbie, who led the program since the 1980s to a great deal of success. "This team is searching for its identity. To play Cleveland is good for us because we needed to get slapped around a little bit. We will learn how to defend ourselves and keep the tradition up we have here."
The Lady Raiders were sharp on the receiving end, while Katie McGinnis and Brianna Daniel set the offense up for points.
Cleveland middle blocker Jordan Whitcraft was an immovable force in the final set as she landed three of her team's five blocks to close out a powerful sweep.
"Chemistry is the most important thing for our team," McGowan said. "Practice and being together is 90% of the game. Being close and building memories are the most important keys, and the rest will take care of itself."
Sale Creek's Gabi Lacheney and Lillie Morgan combined for 11 kills, while Allison Smith had 20 digs with Kaci Billingsley recording 15 assists.
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.