Photo by Jim & Regina Devinney
The James River girls were scheduled to open the Region 2C volleyball tournament on Tuesday with a home match against Nelson County. The tournament includes a dozen teams with the top four seeds getting first round byes.
If James River won Tuesday they’ll advance to Thursday’s quarterfinal round at Glenvar. That would be a challenge for the Knights, who lost to Glenvar twice in three sets during the regular season. The Highlanders are the undefeated defending state champions and they will host the semifinal and championship rounds on November 8 and 9.
The River girls won’t be mailing that in if they advance to Thursday’s round, as they’ve been playing some pretty good volleyball themselves lately. Last week, the Knights ended the regular season with a three set win over a solid Alleghany team, 25-19, 25-15, and 25-19. It was senior night for Emma Francis, Bella Gilliland, and Mary Hoye and the win ended the regular season with an 8-10 record for River.
“It was a good finish to our regular season,” said coach Davina Copsey.
The three seniors all played well. Gilliland had nine kills, Francis had eight kills and two blocks, and Hoye had 20 digs and a game high seven serving aces.
Also making strong contributions to the win were Jadyn Miller and Konner Myers with five kills each, Belle Stewart with 11 assists, and Kaylyn Bryant with a dozen digs.
The top two teams from this week’s regional make the state tournament.