"No mercy" was the cry as South Forsyth broke the huddle, and the Lady War Eagles showed none in the second game against Johns Creek.
After hanging on for a 27-25 win in the first game against the No. 4-ranked Lady Gladiators, No. 6 South scored 14 of the first 15 points in the second game and went on to win (27-25, 25-13) a key Area 5-AAAAAA battle on Tuesday at the Eagles’ Nest.
The Lady War Eagles also picked up a two-game victory (25-11, 25-11) over North Forsyth earlier in the evening. West Forsyth fell to Johns Creek (25-15, 25-16) in the opening game, but rebounded with a win against North (25-22, 25-22).
"I absolutely did not [expect such a quick start]," South head coach Kelly Wren said. "Johns Creek is a very good team and they made some errors at critical times that allowed us to get ahead.
"I wanted us to get ahead as far as we could and stay there."
And the Lady War Eagles (17-7, 3-1 Area 5-AAAAAA) did just that, as they didn’t allow Johns Creek (22-5, 2-2) to score more than three consecutive points in the second game. Junior Kelly McCravy presided over the 8-0 run and finished with 51 assists in the two games.
South sophomore Taylor Svehla was dominant near the net with 12 kills against Johns Creek. The 6-foot-2 middle hitter finished the day with 22 kills to boost her total to 195 for the season.
"She’s a big hitter," Wren said. "I think we have everything this year, whereas in the past, we haven’t been experienced or haven’t had everything. But yeah, she’s a phenomenal player."
The first game wasn’t nearly as easy for South, but the outcome was still the same.
The Lady War Eagles trailed Johns Creek 8-6 before going on a 14-3 run, making the score 20-11 before the Gladiators found their groove with eight straight points. After both teams reached 25 points, South strung together two more scores, as Svehla put the final touch on with a game-ending kill.
North (10-8, 1-3 area) started the first game against South with an early 5-2 lead, but that quickly evaporated as South went on a 21-6 run that included nine consecutive points.
The Lady War Eagles went on another tear against North with a 12-3 run midway through the second game and cruised to victory (25-11, 25-11). The Lady War Eagles have won nine out of their last 10 games, their best stretch since 2009.
"We’re coming off of some injuries," North head coach Kathy Houston said. "Our center is hurt and we lost our backup center last week. ... We’re just trying to get everybody healthy so we can play. We’re putting people in positions they don’t always play.
"Right now we are our own worst enemy. We shoot ourselves in the foot. But we’re heading in the right direction and as soon as we clean those [mistakes] up we’ll be winning some of these games instead of being close."
West Forsyth (13-19, 1-3 area) fell to Johns Creek (25-15, 25-16), but rebounded with a win against North (25-22, 25-22) to end the day.
"We did a much better job playing at the net tonight than we have recently," West head coach Jim Orr said. "We’ve been struggling all year trying to get all the parts working together. We’re finally being able to get some of those parts identified, and they’re starting to work."