The Lord Botetourt girls will host James River tonight in what has been a solid volleyball rivalry over the years. Even when Lord Botetourt was dominating the state for three straight championship years, the Cavaliers knew they would always get a tough match from the Knights.
LB comes in at 2-2 after splitting two matches last week. On March 9 the Cavaliers lost to Franklin County in four sets as the Eagles remained undefeated after three matches. Franklin won 25-14, 25-25, 19-25 and 25-14 in Daleville.
Annelise Wolfe had nine kills and two aces for LB, while Nora Spickard had nine kills as well to go with nine digs and an ace. Anna Dewease had 23 digs and Parker Hudson had eight digs and four kills.
On Thursday at Northside the Cavaliers bounced back with a five-set win over the host Vikings in a marathon match. LB won the first set, 25-21, but Northside tied it with a win by the same score in set two. LB then regained control with a 25-18 third set win, only to have the Vikings rally to tie it again by winning the fourth set, 25-17. Botetourt then won the fifth and deciding game to 15 by a score of 15-10.
“I’m proud of how the team stepped up in the fifth set against Northside to get the win,” said LB coach Julie Conner.
Wolfe had 16 kills in this one along with 12 digs and a couple aces. Spickard had 11 kills, 12 digs and two aces, while Hudson had 10 kills and 12 digs. Dewease had 19 digs and Sydney Whorley dished out 26 assists.
Botetourt is at William Byrd tonight.
James River is 1-4 after dropping matches on back-to-back nights last week. The Knights fell to Carroll County in Hillsville on Thursday, then lost at Floyd on Friday night.
At Carroll the Knights battled in the first set before falling 26-24. After that the Cavaliers took charge and won the next two, 25-12 and 25-15.
“A tough match,” said River coach Davina Copsey. “We started strong, but had some trouble terminating on offense in the second and third sets.”
Ainsley Simmons had five kills, two blocks and a couple aces to lead the Knights. Olivia Thacker had four kills, Emma Lester had three kills and six digs and Michaela Hedrick had five digs and an ace.
A night later in Floyd the Knights lost to the Buffalo Gals, 25-16, 25-20 and 25-8. Morgan Marshall had four kills and three digs, Bailey Mines had five digs, three assists and a couple aces and Emma Lester had three kills.
“We played well defensively in the first two sets but lost momentum,” said Copsey.