Photos by Brian Hoffman
The Lord Botetourt volleyball team is tied for first place in the Blue Ridge District after defeating Franklin County in Daleville last week. The Cavaliers beat the Eagles in four sets to tie the visitors at the top of the district standings.
Franklin County came to town with a 5-0 district record and jumped on top early, winning the first set 25-16. However, the Cavs regrouped and won the next three in a row, 25-15, 26-24 and 25-15, to win the match. Both teams are now 5-1 in the district after splitting the regular season series.
Gracelynn Clark and Addison Naff led LB’s win over Franklin with 10 kills each and Clark also had four blocks. Savanna Johnson had eight kills and a pair of aces from the serving line. Ava Stephens had seven kills and three blocks.
On Monday at home the Cavaliers kept the ball rolling with an exciting five-set win over Class 5 Patrick Henry. This time LB won the first two sets, 25-11 and 25-11, and appeared to be in control of the match. However, the Patriots didn’t go down easy, winning the next two 25-22 and 27-25 to stay alive and force a fifth set to 15. The Cavaliers dominated that one to win the set, 15-6, and gain the victory.
Johnson had 21 kills on Monday while Clark had 13 and Stephens had nine to go with six blocks. Kennedy Fender had 43 assists and 15 digs and Addalyn Underwood had 17 digs and seven aces.
With the win the Cavaliers improved 10-7 overall. They put a four-game winning streak on the line Tuesday at Staunton River but results were too late for publication. On Thursday, LB will host William Byrd and next week the Cavaliers are at William Fleming on Tuesday and at Northside on Thursday, Oct. 23.
