The Lord Botetourt volleyball team opened the season with two non-district matches against River Ridge District teams from the New River area last week. The Cavaliers won at Christiansburg in their season opener, then lost to Blacksburg at home.
The Cavs beat Christiansburg in four sets. They won the first two, 25-21 and 25-23, before the Blue Demons rallied to win the third, 25-20. Botetourt then put it away with a 25-17 win in the fourth set.
“The girls showed a lot of toughness and heart against a good Christiansburg team,” said LB coach Julie Conner.
Nora Spickard led the Cavs with eight kills and also had 14 digs. Emma Rice, Erica Gergely and Becca Huddleston had six kills each while Christina Ellis had five. Rice also had five blocks and Gergely had 10 digs. Setter Skylar Morris had 25 assists and 18 digs while Brie Beddingfield had 17 digs and a couple aces.
On Thursday the Cavaliers had their home opener and dropped a three-set match to a strong Blacksburg team, 25-21, 25-17 and 25-16.
“We struggled in serve receive against Blacksburg and that made it difficult to get our offense going,” said Conner.
Huddleston had six kills and five blocks, Rice had five blocks, Morris had 17 assists and Beddingfield had 12 digs and two aces.
The Cavaliers were scheduled to host Auburn on Tuesday, and that’s always a good one as Conner goes up against Auburn coach Sherry Millirons. The Eagles have one of the top programs in the state and both sisters have won multiple state championships in their division.
Botetourt returns the trip to Blacksburg on Thursday and next week they continue a tough schedule with a match at Cave Spring on Tuesday, September 6. A week from today, on September 7, LB will host James River.