James River High School came to town with a record of 5-3, (1-1 Three Rivers District) with one glaring statistic in that the Knights had yet to play a fourth set. Each match ended either 3-0 or 0-3.
Carroll County (4-4, 2-1) was able to break that unique streak but fell just short in rallying its way out of an 0-2 hole for the second straight match. James River held on for a 3-1 ( 26-24, 25-19, 27-29, 25-23) victory that was every bit as close as it sounds..
Two teams that are as evenly matched as can be, slugged it out and the final advantage went the way of the visitors, 103-95.
While coming up just short on the scoreboard, veteran Coach Cindy Edwards was pleased with the effort she received from her squad.
” Again I thought we play extremely hard fought back time after time” Edwards said . “And was right there against a very sold team from start to finish.”
Individually the Lady Cavaliers finished the night with a trio of players that broke the 20 barrier for the match. Senior Aza Petty finished with 20 Diggs in addition to 18 kills and four Aces while Junior Laiken Burnett tallied 26 Assists to accompany her 18 Diggs and 4 Aces. Fellow Junior Callie Harris recorded 28 Diggs and 3 Aces.
In the opening set it was a battle of runs after JRHS led 12-9. CCHS sandwiched two runs around a three point Knights run to leave the teams knotted at 16. Trailing 22-19, Petty did her best to will the Cavs with back to back kills and the team finally pulled back even at 24-24. JR took the opening set in Extras by scoring back to back points to close it out, 26-24.
The second set followed suit as CCHS led 10-8 before the visitors strung together eight straight on the strength of Libero Leanna Steger’s serving game. Now down 16-10, Carroll County answered with five unanswered as Petty scored two of her Kills and Burnett two of her Aces.
Sadly, CCHS ran out of time after the Knights scored six straight to push it out to 22-15. Ali Wright saved one set point with possibly her biggest swing of the evening but the set ended at 25-19.
Carroll County is not afraid to try and play out of a 0-2 hole, especially after defeating Glenvar on the road last week. This time the hole became deeper after JRHS opened with a 6-0 spurt. The Lady Cavaliers didn’t take their first lead until 13-12, finishing the charge with Brooke Webb Ace and Petty Kill.
The point of the night came at 16-16 when Petty went Patrick Mahomes on the Knights by finishing the point with a Kill that she finished up with her back to the net. The mojo was back with the Cavs and it lead to six straight points, pushing the home team to a 22-17 lead.
Once again the Knights battled back and was serving for the match at 27-26. A service error tied it up and CCHS closed it out with a Burnett Ace and Petty Kill for the 29-27 victory.
The fourth and final set was a mirror image of the first three and it was 16-16 after Petty scored three straight with a Dink, an Ace and a service winner. From there the teams exchanged points until 22 All with the highlight being Burnett with her own over the shoulder winner 🏆 on a sneaky 2nd ball.
Harris followed with a 2 ball winner ahead of a Wright Kill to give CCHS a 23-22 lead. The following point was the longest of the match and eventually went to the Knights as did the last two to close out the night, 25-23.
Carroll County, Alleghany and James River each stand at 1-1 against the group in what promises to be an exciting District race.
The Lady Cavaliers return to action 🎬 Thursday night at Floyd County.
James River also captured the Junior Varsity match 2-0 but not before being pushed in the second set of the 25-13, 25-21 victory.
A.S.P.N on The Hill 