.jpg)
RC Netters Outlast TA Wildcats Bounce Back From Pair Of Losses
In a marathon high school volleyball match, Rockbridge County fended off a comeback to earn a 3-2 home win over Valley District rival Turner Ashby on Thursday night in Lexington.
In front of a loud and spirited crowd, the Wildcats (7-8 overall, 6-3 district) bounced back from a pair of losses to end the week on a high note, defeating the Knights 27-25, 25-21, 23-25, 2325, 15-11 in a contest that lasted more than two hours. Earlier in the week, the Wildcats had fallen at home against Fort Defiance 3-0 last Monday before losing at East Rockingham 3-1 last Tuesday.
Pleased with Thursday’s win, RC head coach Gabe Wagner said, “We needed that. East Rock and Fort were very off nights for us. We fought hard, and we worked well. Something was missing, but we found that.”
TA (12-6, 7-3) led 10-4 in the first set, but the Wildcats gradually battled back, making kills at the net and serving well, ending the set with an ace from Rebekah Allen.
The Knights led 14-9 in the second set, but RC fought back again. Down 20-17, the Wildcats won the next seven points – six on Geneva Snyder’s serve. TA scored on a kill by Bella Schultz, but RC won on a missed serve by TA.
The third set was close the whole way, with the Knights going ahead late. RC put away two sets before the Knights won the set on an RC error. The fourth set was similar, with TA pulling ahead at the end.
In the final set, TA took a 4-3 lead, but a kill by RC’s Mackenzie McCormick started a 4-0 run that put RC up 7-4. The Wildcats stayed ahead the rest of the way, and Jada Hamilton ended the match with a kill.
Hamilton led the Wildcats with 25 kills and 26 digs and had three aces and two blocks. Maisen Mckemy dished out 41 assists to lead RC while collecting 11 digs and serving up three aces. Allen recorded 18 digs and had five assists and two aces, while Snyder contributed 14 kills and two aces. Also stepping up for the Wildcats were Hayley Higgins with 13 digs, Tadara Cooper with 11 digs on her 16th birthday, Anna Nye with eight digs, Adrianna Grue with six digs, and McCormick with six kills.
Proud of how his team played, Wagner said, “One of my biggest emphases this year is, I want this team to be a family because that’s something that’s kind of lacked in years past. I want them to be together. I want them to support each other in those hard moments. Tonight we did that, and we allowed each other to play fearlessly.”
FD 3, RC 0
The Wildcats saw their fivematch winning streak snapped with a 3-0 home loss to Fort Defiance on Monday of last week.
With the 25-21, 25-22, 25-15 nondistrict win, Fort (17-1) swept the regular-season series with the Wildcats. When the teams met on Sept. 5 at Fort, the Indians won 3-1.
Led by outside hitter Maecy Frizzelle, Fort attacked the net early in the rematch, jumping out to a 10-3 lead in the first set. Frizzelle led all players with 22 kills and had 11 digs and an ace. With strong serving from Mc-Cormick, RC battled back to cut the Indians’ lead to 11-9, but the Indians won the next four points and stayed ahead the rest of the set.
The second set was close early on before the Wildcats capitalized on strong serving from Mckemy to take a 13-8 lead. RC was up 18-14, but Fort gradually chipped away at the lead and tied the match 21-21. Frizzelle made three more kills to help the Indians take the set.
Fort carried the momentum into the third set, gradually building up a double-digit lead. The Indians led 24-9 before the Wildcats got a kill from McCormick that started a 5-0 run, but Frizzelle ended the match with a kill.
Reviewing the match, Wagner said, “There were moments of our potential, but a lot more moments where we didn’t live up to what we were capable of. It’s part of the learning process. It’s why we play sports.”
Giving the Indians credit, Wagner said, They’re very strong. They’re just a solid allaround team. They just outpaced us just a little bit from the service line.”
Hamilton led RC with 10 kills and two blocks and had 12 digs, while Mckemy had a team-high 22 assists and four digs. McCormick paced the Wildcats with 14 digs and added seven kills, while Snyder led the Wildcats with three aces and had seven kills and three digs. Also chipping in were Allen with seven digs, Higgins with six, and Nye with three.
Other than Frizzelle, Fort’s leaders were Caroline Hanger with 10 digs and nine assists and Ella Shreckhise with 11 kills, 18 digs, two aces and no errors.
ER 3, RC 1
The Wildcats suffered a 3-1 road loss to district rival East Rockingham (15-3, 8-1) on Tuesday of last week in Elkton.
With the 25-23, 21-25, 25-16, 25-18 victory, the Eagles swept the regular-season series with the Wildcats. When the teams met on Sept. 12 in Lexington, ER won 3-2.
In the rematch, senior outside hitter Alliya McNair, a Bridgewater College commit, led the Eagles with 34 kills, 17 digs and three aces. “East Rock is a great team… Alliyah McNair is easily the best player in the region,” said Wagner.
Alison Hooke dished out 44 assists and had five digs for ER, while Nora Fox added 11 kills, 15 digs and an ace.
Hamilton led RC with 12 kills and 15 digs, Mckemy dished out a team-high 26 assists and had three aces, and Snyder recorded six kills and two aces. McCormick and Allen each chipped in 11 digs, and McCormick added four kills and two aces. Higgins collected 14 digs.
Going over the match, Wagner said, “We started out playing very well in set one. We sided out at 70 percent, which is extremely good. They picked it up going into the second set, and we lost confidence and focus and just couldn’t find our rhythm the rest of the match.”
The Wildcats were scheduled to play at William Monroe last night and will continue district action at Rocktown on Thursday before playing host to Spotswood on Tuesday, starting with junior varsity action at 5:30 p.m. on both nights.
