The Lord Botetourt volleyball team played host to James River in the first of two intra-county matches last week and the Cavaliers won in four sets. The two will meet again at James River on March 31.
Last week in Daleville the two county rivals split the first two sets, with LB winning 25-17 in the first but River bouncing back to tie things up with a 26-24 win in the second. Botetourt then came on strong to win the next two, and the match, 25-15 and 25-10.
“All around I thought we played well against River,” said LB coach Julie Conner.
Parker Hudson led LB with 16 kills, 14 digs and five aces while Annelise Wolfe had eight kills, eight digs and three aces. Nora Spickard had six kills, Anna Dewease had 23 digs and Sydney Whorley dished out 21 assists.
For River, sophomore Emma Lester led the team with 12 kills while Morgan Marshall had 11 and three aces. Bailey Mines had 28 assists and five aces.
“Despite being down two players, we played a good match and gave them a good fight,” said River coach Davina Copsey.
On Monday night the Knights hosted Glenvar and lost in four hotly contested sets, 25-15, 28-26, 21-25 and 25-12. Marshall had eight kills and seven aces, Ainsley Simmons had seven kills and four blocks and Lily Wilson had six kills and a half dozen blocks. Mines had 20 assists and Michaela Hedrick led the defense with 17 digs against undefeated Glenvar.
“This was a hard-fought match with many long rallies,” said Copsey. “Our defense and in-system play has improved dramatically, and our offense was much more aggressive. We played well overall, it just didn’t go our way.”
Lord Botetourt also dropped a match as the Cavaliers lost in three sets to William Byrd last Thursday. The host Terriers won 25-21, 25-19 and 25-20 in Vinton as they remained undefeated.
Spickard had 12 kills in this one while Wolfe had nine. Dewease had 18 digs and Whorley had 14 assists and a couple aces.
Botetourt, now 3-3, was scheduled to host Staunton River on Tuesday and then head to Franklin County on Thursday. River, 1-6, had a match at Radford tonight postponed. The Knights are at Alleghany on Thursday.
