LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. — WILLIAMSBURG—Communication is key to victory in every team sport.

It is especially important in volleyball, where points are won and lost with the drop of a ball.

South Laurel coach Fawn Greer wanted to see her team communicate better on the court, and she got just that Thursday night, as the Lady Cardinals swept past host Whitley County, 26-16, 25-15.

“We worked well together tonight as a team,” Greer said. “We still need to work a little more on our communication as a team. We did well in that area tonight. We just need to keep it up.” Greer was making her first return to Whitley County, where she served as an assistant before taking over the head coaching job at South Laurel this season.

The Lady Cards were without the services of Breanna Allen, who missed the game with an injury to her wrist. Greer said that Erika Burchett and Morgan Johnson really stepped up their play on the back line, where Allen usually shines.

“They both stepped up with their passing,” Greer said. “We switched up and ran a 5-1, and we may keep it.”

South Laurel (8-2) took control early in both sets, establishing its dominance over the Lady Colonels (8-4). In the first set, South raced out to a 5-1 lead behind the continued excellent serving of Brittany Grega, and the net play of Erika Burchett, who had two kills on sets from Shelley Nunley.

The Lady Cards pushed their lead to 12-4 when Nunley set Morgan Johnson for a kill, and it looked like South would cruise to the first set win.

But Whitley County had other ideas, as the Lady Colonels outscored South, 6-3, cutting the lead to 15-10 and forcing Greer to call a time-out.

Out of the break, Nunley looked to set up Burchett, but instead faked and tipped the ball over the net for the point. She then set Burchett for a kill to make it 17-10. From there, South Laurel rolled to the 25-16 win.

The second set saw South holding a 6-2 lead early before Whitley County cut the lead to 9-7, thanks in part of some net serves from South players, and a rare miscommunication in this match, as they let the ball drop, and Whitley was within two.

After a net serve by the Lady Colonels, Grega took over for South, and the lead grew to 13-7 as Burchett had a kill and a point during this run. After South lost the serve at 13-8, Whitley scored a quick point when Kayla Sears killed the ball to pull her team to within four, 13-9.

The Lady Cards quickly got the serve back when Nunley again set-up Burchett for a kill. With Nunley now serving, Kim Eldson recorded a kill to make it 15-9. Six points would be the closest Whitley County would get, as the Lady Cards finished the match with a 9-6 run to make the final, 25-15. Johnson and Burchett both had kills during that run.

“We had our heads up the entire game,” Greer said. “We actually played as a team.”

South Laurel is scheduled to travel to Clay County Tuesday.

Denis House can be reached at sports@sentinel-echo.com.