The high school volleyball season will open on Monday, August 21, when James River plays host to Lord Botetourt in Springwood in an intra-county showdown.
James River has a new coach in Linsey (Bailey) Firebaugh, a 2018 graduate of James River High. The Knights participated in a jamboree in Salem on August 5 and last Saturday they competed in a preseason tournament at Bassett and won the whole thing.
Teams played two-set matches at Bassett and River beat Patrick County and Tunstall and split with Blacksburg to make the championship game against Bassett. They split that one, winning 25-21 and falling 25-23, but the tie-breaker was total points and River had 48 to the Bengals’ 46, giving them the tournament championship.
“Our girls are workhorses,” said Firebaugh. “We have a very talented group.”
Lord Botetourt is scheduled to scrimmage Hidden Valley at home on Thursday of this week. The jayvees will start at 5:30 p.m. with the varsity to follow.
Last Wednesday the Cavaliers were at Brookville for their first scrimmage. It went five sets with LB winning the first two, losing the second two, and winning the fifth to win the scrimmage.
“Our girls came out on fire,” said coach Julie Conner. “We did a lot of good things.”
Look for a preview of both teams in a special Fall Sports section of The Fincastle Herald next week.
