No. 13 New London knocks out WACO

NEW LONDON — It was vintage New London volleyball on Wednesday night in the Class 1A Region 8 quarterfinals. The 13th-ranked Tigers used solid defense and a quick-striking attack to roll to a three-set victory, beating Henry County rival WACO 25-11, 25-18, 25-18.

“We knew we needed to come out from the beginning, get up right away and maintain that lead the whole time,” said New London coach Lindsey Johnson. “The last time we played them, we got in a bit of trouble in the third set.”

The Tigers frustrated the Warriors with a solid effort on the defensive side. New London held WACO to just 24 total kills.

“We had to work on tip coverage a lot,” said New London libero Emma Nye. “I think a lot of teams know that's been a weakness for the last couple of years. We've been working on that a lot, and I think it helped tonight.”

Natalie Burden led the New London charge, tallying 17 kills on the day, a performance that impressed WACO head coach Jay Coble.

“I thought Burden put on a show on the outside,” Coble said. “She was awesome tonight.”

Nye led New London with 23 digs. Aliyah Christensen and Elly Manning each had 15 assists.

“Our offense was really good,” Manning said. “We kept the errors to a minimum, and we're good at putting the ball where we need to.”

WACO’s Ellah Kissell had seven kills on the night to lead the Warriors. Grace Coble finished with 17 assists and six kills, and Jocelyn Fulton led the squad with 21 digs.

WACO’s season ends at 21-13, not bad for a squad that returned just two varsity players from last season.

“Honestly, we only had two people who had put on a varsity uniform,” Coach Coble said. “I'm extremely pleased with the way they have played.”

New London (26-13) will travel to No. 5 Holy Trinity Catholic in the regional semifinals on Monday.

“I think our biggest thing is our mindset,” Manning said. “If we play the best we can, we can beat anybody out there.”