Photo 📷 Credit : Patti Goins

RADFORD – Carroll County entered the Bobcats Gymnasium Thursday night with a chance to pull into a third place tie with their host but will settle for the #4 spot in the Three Rivers District Tournament after falling 3-0( 25-21, 25-19, 25-16).

Carroll County (12-9, 7-5 TRD) will now set their sites on another trip to the Highlands on Monday night to face #1 seed Alleghany High School.

The two teams split their regular season matches with the Home team winning each time. Carroll County defeated AHS in the Three Rivers District opener for the teams and it proved to be a wake up call for the Cougars (20-3, 11-1) as the top seed rolled through league play with nine of the 11 being by 3-0 sweeps.

In the rematch against Radford (9-3, TRD), the Lady Cavaliers found themselves leading 17-14 in the opening set after a 5-0 run capped by a service Ace from Freshman Raylee Goins. But the Bobcats realized that if they lost the match they would be the ones heading to AHS on Monday.

The run 🏃‍♂️ would be 7-2 for the Bobcats and Head Coach Cindy Edwards called for a Time Out, trailing 21-19. The second timeout came at 23-20 but the Lady Cavaliers could not flip the script in the 25-21 setback.

The team returned to their normal rotation for the second set with Callie Harris returning to her Libero position after Faith Nicholson held down the spot in the opening set. The move was made due to Ali Wright missing the opening set due to an illness the previous day.

Wright hit the ground running in the second set by scoring the first two points and Harris made it 3-1 CCHS with an Ace. This time the Bobcats run was 11-2 with the two coming on Radford errors.

Trailing 12-5, Carroll County tried to claw their way back into the set and the match. The team cut the deficit to 20-16 on a Kill by Arizona Thompson but that was as close as they would get in the 25-19 final.

Carroll County finished the night with the ever so rare stat of having four players in double figures in the Digs column. Aza Petty and Harris both finished up with 15 while Nicholson collected 12 and Laiken Burnett 11.

Burnett finished with a double double as the Junior setter totalled 17 assists on the night.

Trailing 2-0 and on the road, Carroll County struggled mightily in the early stages of the closeout set. The deficit reached 13-4 until an Ace from Brooke Webb and a Kill from Petty showed signs of life. Down 13-7 and with a bit of momentum on their side, the Lady 👩 Cavaliers were outscored 10-1, making it 23-8.

The closing five minutes might prove to be as valuable as any throughout the season. Knowing that a really long Bus ride awaits them on Monday to face a team that hasn’t lost in almost two months, it was a bit of a gut check time for CCHS.

The Lady Cavaliers responded in a major way, producing an energetic 8-1 run 🏃‍♂️ to pull within 24-16. It was too late to give them hope of winning the match they were playing but it was a strong way to close out a tough night.

The point the Lady 👩 Cavaliers won to make it 24-16 was by far the longest one of the Match. The amount of Heart that was on display down the stretch was encouraging and something that can be built on between now and the departure time on Monday.

Carroll County will also be playing in the Regional tournament following the conclusion of the District Tourney. The 10 team field will begin play next Saturday with the #7 and #8 seeds hosting the #9 and #10 seeds.

Radford finished up in a tie for second place with James River but lost the tiebreaker and will travel up to Buchanan on Monday with the winners meeting in the Finals on Wednesday night.

[ JV story was self standing with it being their final match]

Leny Richter

Height : 5’5

Class : Junior

USA Guardian 🇺🇸 : Ruth Hylton

Hometown : Erkelenz, Germany 🇩🇪

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4, 182 miles is the distance from Leny’s Hometown to Carroll County High School 🏫. The foreign exchange student will be returning to Germany 🇩🇪 here shortly and one of the memories Richter will take with her is playing a Volleyball 🏐 season for the Lady 👩 Cavaliers and Coach Cindy Edwards.

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From Leny :

I am so thankful to be a part of the Volleyball team this year. Even though I have never played before, everyone made me feel welcome on the team, supported me and helped me getting better.

I am thankful to have met all my teammates and coaches and love each of them. I enjoyed every second I spent with them. They have a special place in my heart and make me wish I could stay forever.

I will never forget this time and all the great people and I am gonna miss playing Volleyball with them so much.

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From Head Coach Cindy Edwards :

Leny is a exchange student who will be going home at the end of the semester.

Leny is such a sweet young lady and she’s here to experience things. If you’ve been to a game, you can hear her encouraging her teammates her teammates love her and have been encouraging to Leny also .

My hope for Leny is that she has made great friends for life.

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Assistant Coach Maleah Neely :

When I think of Leny I think about her excitement and her joy. We are currently borrowing her from Germany and only get to have her for a couple more months (she goes back in December).

She said the first day of volleyball that at her school in Germany that they do not have any kind of organized sports, so playing volleyball here is the first time she has really gotten to be part of a team.

She has fully embraced the team and is the loudest one in the gym on any given night. Her role has been limited, but she has understood and gives her absolute best to being the hype man on the bench for us.

The girls have embraced her and have taken her under their wing which has been so heartwarming to see. She has gotten to experience lots of new firsts – playing on a team, attending a pep rally, attending Friday night football, riding in a parade, going to the beach, homecoming, and getting her
first kill in a varsity volleyball match. She has told all of us that she is not ready to leave, but I know that she will be back and I hope that she will come to visit us. I have so enjoyed having her on the team this season because she has just been such a positive voice.

We are going to miss having her around, but we’ve already talked about how we can keep in touch because at the end of the day, Germany isn’t that far away, right?

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This concludes our 13 Varsity Volleyball 🏐 Player Profiles ! I hope that the Parents have enjoyed them and that anyone that read one or all 13 feels a little closer to the players.

Again, in Leny’s case, a special Thank You 🙏 to Ruth Hylton and we hope to be able to add a thought from her to this one and Coach Neely has some thoughts to add on Corrie Delp.

FROM RUTH :

“Brave” is the word I associate with Leny. She traveled halfway around the world to experience life in Southwest Virginia. She jumped into every new activity offered,even parking cars and cleaning up a lot at the Labor Day Market. A hurricane and 3 days without electricity was an unexpected experience.

Leny has already made it through challenges and has throughly enjoyed the good times.Although I will miss her so much when she leaves, I know she leaves with great memories and friendships.

Leny, you are so strong I can’t wait to see what your future brings.

Thank You to all that took the time to learn about the Baker’s Dozen of Young Ladies that play Varsity Volleyball 🏐 for Carroll County High School 🏫!

Carroll County High School 🏫 Junior Varsity Volleyball team fell in straight sets (25-13, 25-20) Thursday night but the Lady 👩 Cavaliers fought until the very end and the match included a Kodak moment between Clara DeHaven and Paisley Snider. Sadly, I was so moved by the gesture that I couldn’t take the photo.

DeHaven arrived at Radford feeling under the weather which meant that Head Coach Jason Petty would have to have one of his other players dawn the white jersey that belongs to the Libero.

The Libero jersey and matching responsibilities are different from the play of the other five spots on the court and DeHaven held down the spot throughout the season.

There was Snider wearing a white #19 jersey trying to soak it all in. Then in a moment that I won’t forget anytime soon, DeHaven is standing beside her offering words of encouragement to her teammate and the moment ended with the two players sharing a brief hug. Priceless memory to close out the season and if anyone else captured that, Please send it to me.

In the opening set, Aaliyah Hampton finished off a set from Leigha Harrad for a Kill that pulled CCHS to within 11-8 but that was as close as the Lady Cavaliers would get in the 25-13 set back.

In the second set Carroll County was able to keep it closer and led 16-14 Midway through before the Bobcats exploded with a 9-0 run 🏃‍♂️ to make it 23-16.

CCHS tried to answer back and did pull to within 24-20 after a service Ace from Addilynn Stanley. The Bobcats closed out the set, match and season for the Lady 👩 Cavaliers with the final point.

This concludes the coverage for the Junior Varsity Volleyball 🏐 team so the final piece of business is to say Thank You to Coach Petty, Assistant Coach Nikki Heflin and Volunteer 🙋‍♀️ Coach Skyler Petty.

Thank you to the 17 young ladies that became 15 after both Heidi Painter and Ellie Heflin were called up to Varsity.

Kudos to the Parents for showing up each night and cheering 👏 on the efforts of their Lady Cavalier !