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Wildcats Garner 3-2 Wins Over WA, ER
Elevating its level of play to extend its season, the Rockbridge County High School volleyball team pulled off a pair of upsets in the first two rounds of the Region 3C tournament. The 11th-seeded Wildcats earned 3-2 road wins over its first two playoff opponents, defeating sixth-seeded Western Albemarle (16-11) in the first round on Monday of last week in Crozet before fending off a comeback from third-seeded East Rockingham (20-4) in the quarterfinals last Wednesday in Elkton.
The Wildcats, who improved to 12-10 with the wins, were scheduled to play at second-seeded Alleghany in the semifinals on Monday in Covington, with the winner advancing to the regional championship match tonight, Wednesday, and qualifying for the Class 3 state tournament. See a separate story for the result, and visit www.thenews-gazette.com for tournament updates. Last year, the Wildcats won the Region 3C title with a 3-0 win over Rustburg in the finals before falling to Christiansburg 3-2 in the Class 3 state quarterfinals. The Wildcats graduated five all-district seniors from last year’s team.
Against ER, which went 13-1 in the Valley District to win the district title, the Wildcats were facing a team that had beaten them twice during the regular season, 3-2 on Sept. 12 in Lexington and 3-1 on Oct. 8 in Elkton. The Wildcats went 9-5 in the district this season.
In last Wednesday’s quarterfinal match, the Wildcats won the first two sets before the Eagles came back to tie it 2-2. RC then edged ER in the fifth set to win 25-18, 25-19, 16-25, 17-25, 15-12. With the victory, the Wildcats snapped the Eagles’ eightmatch winning streak.
“It was a pretty incredible game,” said first-year RC head coach Gabe Wagner.
Giving credit to the Eagles, Wagner said, “East Rock is a great vol- leyball team with the best volleyball player in the state for [Class 3]. Beating them came down to slowing down Alliyah McNair. We switched up our blocking systems and were able to slow her enough to control the game on our side of the net.”
McNair, a senior setter and right-side hitter who was named Valley District player of the year last week, had a match-high 29 kills, seven aces and 10 digs.
After the Eagles tied the match 2-2, the Wildcats came out strong in the fifth set, building up a 13-9 lead and holding on to win 15-12.
Praising his team’s effort, Wagner said, “The girls fought unbelievably hard the entire game and showed immense resilience and grit that we will continue to build upon. We still have lots to work on and improve for our next match.”
Mackenzie McCormick led the Wildcats with 12 kills and had four blocks, while Rebekah Allen paced RC with 26 digs and served up two aces. Maisen Mckemy dished out 35 assists to lead the Wildcats and added 11 digs and three blocks. Also stepping up for RC were Jada Hamilton with nine kills, 13 digs and two aces; Geneva Snyder with eight kills, three blocks and two aces; and Anna Nye with a teamhigh four aces.
In addition to McNair, other leaders for the Eagles were Alison Hooke with 31 assists and four digs and Nora Fox with 11 kills, 11 digs and three aces.
Wagner was looking forward to the showdown with Alleghany, which entered Monday’s semifinal match on a 12-match winning streak, with an overall record of 23-3. The teams met twice in the first two weeks of the regular season, with Alleghany winning 3-0 both times. “Alleghany is a great team with some great players,” said Wagner. “I expect it to be a dogfight. We have grown significantly since the last time we met, and we are excited for a rematch.”
RC 3, WA 2
Coming back from a 2-1 deficit, the Wildcats earned a 3-2 win over Western Albemarle (16-11) in the first round of the Region 3C tournament on Monday of last week in Crozet.
In the only meeting of the season between the two teams, the Wildcats captured a 25-22, 2325, 10-25, 25-11, 15-11 victory.
“It was a good game and a good win, for sure,” said Wagner. “Western was a very solid team, very similar to us in a lot of ways. It was a very nice team win with contributions from everyone.”
Hamilton and Snyder led the Wildcats with 10 kills each, while McCormick had eight kills. Allen paced the Wildcats with 35 digs and five aces, while Mckemy led RC with 30 assists and added 13 digs. Hamilton contributed 11 digs, while Snyder had four blocks and three aces. Also stepping up for the Wildcats were Emma Johnson with four aces, Nye with three aces and three blocks, and Emmy Duff with one block.
