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The Rockbridge County High School volleyball team won all three of its matches last week, clinching its seventh consecutive Valley District regular-season title by earning a 3-2 road win in a marathon match at Spotswood last Tuesday Penn Laird.
The Wildcats (21-1 overall, 11-0 district) also earned 3-0 home wins over Harrisonburg on Monday of last week and over Turner Ashby on Thursday. The win over TA was the Wildcats’ 17th consecutive victory.
Against Spotswood (17-5, 8-4), RC battled back from a 2-1 deficit to win the final two sets, claiming a 25-23, 24-26, 15-25, 25-13, 15-13 victory.
Four seniors led the Wildcats to victory. McKenzie Burch dished out 42 assists while recording 16 digs and five blocks, and Nala Shearer added 35 digs and five aces. Maddie Dahl led RC with 11 kills and had 20 digs and four blocks, while Sophie Vaught contributed 12 kills, six blocks and five digs.
Also stepping up for RC were Rebekah Allen with 16 digs, Maisen McKemy with 12 digs and four aces, Sophia Perlozzo with 13 kills, and Geneva Snyder with 10 kills.
Dani Kunkle led the Trailblazers with 20 kills, 33 digs and three aces. Raygan Wade dished out 49 assists and had seven kills, and Ava Helfgott collected 22 digs.
RC 3, HHS 0
The Wildcats cruised to a 3-0 home win over Harrisonburg on Monday of last week in Lexington.
It was an emotional night for the Wildcats, who hadn’t played a match in 11 days. The match against Harrisonburg was originally scheduled to take place on Oct. 10, but the match was rescheduled due to a bomb threat at RC. The Wildcats responded well, capturing a 25-17, 25-11, 25-7 victory.
“We had some interesting things going on with school threats, so I think the girls are so strong, and they really have been going through it the past few months,” said RC head coach Kassidy Beagan. “I think them coming out here and showing up, and finally getting together, we didn’t have practice last week, we had a few family deaths, and we just all try to stick together. We just came out together as always and put them away.”
The evening featured a senior night ceremony prior to the match, with the Wildcats honoring their five seniors: Sophie Vaught, McKenzie Burch, Maddie Dahl, Sophia Perlozzo and Nala Shearer. The previous week, Burch had lost her father, Mike Burch, to cancer, and a moment of silence was held following the ceremony. The Wildcats and fans in attendance sported pink tie-dye t-shirts that read “#Burch-Strong”.
Praising her seniors, Beagan said, “These five seniors bring a lot to our team. They’re like the glue and they hold all of us together. No matter what, they bring everyone up and they push the momentum every match. They’re really important.”
The Wildcats opened the first set on a tear, quickly jumping out to a 10-2 lead. But the Blue Streaks (8-10, 2-9) didn’t quit, fighting back with an 8-5 run to make the score 15-10. The set was back and forth the rest of the way, but RC pulled away at the end, finishing the set by winning 25-17.
The stars of Monday night were the seniors, especially McKenzie Burch, who tallied two kills, three blocks, and 12 digs to go along with 32 assists. As a team, the Wildcats dished out 35 assists. Perlozzo led the way offensively with 12 kills, and Dahl was an anchor defensively, leading the team with seven blocks to go along with her 11 kills. Shearer totaled 26 digs and two assists.
The Wildcats made quick work of the Blue Streaks in the next two sets. “The group is loose and having more fun than ever,” said Beagan. “They’re having a great time. They’re a great group.”
RC 3, TA 0
After the win at Spotswood, the Wildcats returned home on Thursday to take on TA for their final regular-season home match. While the Wildcats defeated the Knights (139, 7-4) in straight sets, it wasn’t their cleanest performance.
TA jumped out to an early lead in a back-and-forth first set. RC struggled to gain momentum against the knights, but still took the opening set, 25-19.
“I think that it was more of us not finding the floor as much as we usually do, and not taking advantage of our passes when we had a good pass,” said Beagan.. “We would not make a good pass and then lose that opportunity, so we were just kind of going back and forth with ourselves. I think it was hard for the girls to keep that steady pace. We would get a five-point lead and then we’d lose it.”
The second set proved to be more of the same. At one point, the Knights held a 13-11 lead over the Wildcats, but Rockbridge County responded with an 8-1 run, forcing a Turner Ashby timeout. The Wildcats closed out the set after the break, winning the second set by a score of 25-18.
Dahl and Vaught each led the offensive production for the Wildcats, totaling 10 kills each. Dahl added five blocks and 13 digs, and Vaught tallied three blocks, four digs and an ace.
Serving was a strength for the Wildcats all night and helped propel them to the victory, Beagan said. “I think that our serves were way better today than they were against Spotswood,” she said. “We missed 16 serves against Spotswood so we did a much better job tonight and I think that helped a lot.”
McKenzie Burch was the facilitator for RC, racking up 28 assists to go along with nine digs. Shearer added 19 digs and two aces.
The Wildcats were scheduled to conclude the regular season on Monday at William Monroe. Today, Wednesday, they’ll start play in a four-team Valley District tournament, with RC playing host for a district semifinal match at 6 p.m. If the Wildcats win, they’ll play host for the district finals on Thursday at 7 p.m. They’ll then await their Region 3C tournament schedule.
Looking ahead, Beagan said there are still things that her girls need to clean up before they enter postseason play. “I definitely think we need to work on our defense a little bit more and reading the balls,” she said. “Also our blocking. We get a lot of touches, but sometimes we have a lot of holes in our blocks. And getting set.”
