The Atlee girls volleyball team may have been hampered by nagging injuries but they showed few ill effects in a three-game sweep of rival Lee-Davis on Thursday night. The Raiders fought off an early challenge from the previously unbeaten Confederates and rolled to a dominating win by the third set.

  “We’re still a little banged up,” said Atlee head coach Curtis Carpenter. “My second setter’s playing libero because her ankle’s still messed up… And (Hailey) Brooks has only started practicing one day because she strained a muscle in her abs.”

  Despite being in the first month of the season, Atlee has played 15 games prior to facing Lee-Davis. In comparison, the Confederates only have five games under their belts.

  Lee-Davis came into the contest unbeaten but like Atlee also suffering setbacks to due injury. Starting middle Christina Penzer was out with a hamstring pull forcing Caroline Naumann into active duty despite having recently returned from injury herself.

  “We have a middle that’s a little bit inexperienced out there now,” head coach Sharon Gaston said of Naumann. “And going against a team like (Atlee), that’s a thing to put up against an inexperienced middle.”

  Lee-Davis hung tough with Atlee through the early first set, battling to a 9-9 tie and trailing 11-10 when the Raiders started to roll. A block from Kayliegh Moody (9 kills, 2 blocks) brought Meg Bowers to serve and Atlee reeled off four straight points.

  A kill from Lee-Davis’ Meghan Trice (5 kills, 3 digs) and ace from Jordan Goodman pulled the C-feds to within three, 15-12, but Atlee regained control, thanks to encouragement from their coach, when back to back aces from Moody forced a Confederate timeout.

  “I kind of gave them an earful because their enthusiasm was in the wrong place,” Carpenter said. “Then I thought our game started picking up from there.”

  Moody agreed with her coach’s assessment. “The first game was a little rough,” she said. “I feel like we went in there a little nervous and tense but then after a while, the second game was better, the third game nerves were gone and we were ready to play.”

  With Brooks showing little ill effect from her ab injury, the Raiders ran off four straight points on another Brooks’ ace, two kills from Katy Stiles and one from Moody. They then traded points with the C-feds to pull out a 25-15 win.

  “I thought our girls came in and played very hard,” Gaston said. “I think they gave them a little bit of a run in the first game.”

  Lee-Davis held a 4-3 lead in game two when the Raiders went on a similar roll. With sophomore Rachel Stanford (10 assists, 5 aces, 2 digs) behind the line, Atlee scored seven straight to take a 10-4 lead.

  “She’s doing a real good job,” Carpenter said of Stanford. “She came in projected probably as our third setter but she’s playing solid. We played her across the front row too and she was holding her own. She is probably one of our best blockers too.”

  Trice momentarily stopped the bleeding for LD, but Karlie Suber served up three more points for the Raiders and a 14-5 lead. An ace from Moody widened the margin to 20-10 and the home team closed out the contest 25-13.

  Atlee didn’t give Lee-Davis much of a chance in the third set running out to an 8-1 lead with Brooks at serve.

  Leading 12-3, Stanford returned for a dominating turn at serve as Atlee ran off 10 straight points as part of a 13-1 run, closing out the match 25-5.

  Not showing service as powerful as last season state semifinalist squad, Atlee was still dauntingly efficient finishing the night with 15 aces.

  “They have a few servers that really get on top of the ball and it drops and that’s a really tough serve to pass,” Gaston said. “We do have good passers on our team, we just need to take another step up that we normally wouldn’t and get under the ball.”

  After a hard fought five set battle to beat Hanover on Tuesday night, Gaston felt her Confederates may have been suffering from an emotional drain facing their second rival in three days.

  “This is our hardest week of the season- Hanover, Atlee,” she said. “I was very proud of them. I thought they came in and played hard and did not give up.”

  Though they have grabbed the upper hand in the Capital District, the Atlee players still feel pressure to surpass last year’s success.

  “There’s always pressure on us and coach tries his best to not let it get to our heads and us get big headed,” Moody said. “So there’s a ton of pressure on us right now.

  “It’s from everyone,” she added. “(The) team wants you to do good. The school wants you to do good. Your parents want you to do good. Other teams, they’re like we’re the team to beat. It’s like there’s pressure everywhere.”

Lee-Davis…........................ 15 13   5
Atlee…................................ 25 25 25
Highlights: Jordan Martin (LD) 5 assists, 2 digs; Meghan Trice (LD) 5 kills, 3 digs; Becca Lass (LD) 2 kills; Kayleigh Moody (A) 9 kills, 2 blocks, 2 digs, 2 aces; Katy Stiles (A) 5 kills; Rachel Stanford (A) 10 assists, 5 aces, 2 digs
Records: Lee-Davis 5-1, 3-1 Capital; Atlee 13-3, 4-0