The Lord Botetourt volleyball team is off to a great start but the schedule doesn’t get any easier this week. LB will have three tough opponents in the span of eight days.

On Tuesday the Cavaliers were scheduled to play at Hidden Valley, the defending Group 3A champs. LB beat the Titans in a prior match at Hidden Valley as LB opened the season with four straight wins.

On Thursday of this week the Cavaliers will play host to Cave Spring, another perennially strong team. Then, next Tuesday, LB is off to Springwood to take on James River in an intra-county showdown. Both teams look very strong in the early going.

The Cavaliers won two matches last week, including a four-set win over Blacksburg, the 2016 Group 3A state runner-up, in a match in Daleville. The Bruins have a tall front line and they came out strong, taking the first set 25-16.

LB coach Julie Conner made some adjustments after the first set, and LB went on to win the next three convincingly, 25-11, 25-17 and 25-15. The first set loss was the only set the Cavs have dropped in their first four matches, all victories.

“We rotated our lineup, and that gave us some better match-ups on their middle,” said Conner. “We were a little out of sync in the first set. Blacksburg plays at a fast tempo, and once we settled in our passing was much better.”

Miette Veldman led LB with 23 kills, also adding 13 digs and an ace. Lara Veldman had 12 kills and 12 digs, Alexis Ellis had 15 digs and two aces, Scottie Cook had seven kills and Jordyn Kepler had 49 assists and nine digs.

On Thursday of last week the Cavs played on the road for the first time and took a three-set win at Jefferson Forest, 25-12, 25-21 and 25-12. Miette Veldman had 11 kills and eight digs while Lara had 10 and five. Kenleigh Gunter had 12 digs, Jenna Alam had five and Kepler had 33 assists.