Fueled by strong serving and defense, the Rockbridge County High School volleyball team earned its third consecutive win by defeating Shenandoah District rival Buffalo Gap 3-1 on Thursday night in Lexington.
With the 25-19, 25-21, 22-25, 25-17 victory, the Wildcats (6-6 overall, 4-5 district) avenged a 3-0 road loss to Gap (9-5-1, 5-3) from Sept. 1, when the Wildcats were missing several players due to injuries.
In the rematch, Cesi Beidle led RC with 19 kills and collected 22 digs. Teammate Geneva Snyder, one of the players who was out in the previous showdown, stepped up with 15 kills, including one to end the match, 21 digs, three aces and a block. As a team, the Wildcats served up 16 aces.
Adrianna Grue led the Wildcats with four aces and 23 digs, while Eden Camden dished out a team-high 32 assists and had five digs and two aces. Guiding the Wildcats’ defense were Tadara Cooper with a team-high six blocks to go along with five kills, and Addy Pennington with four blocks. Also contributing for RC were Braelyn Polly with 12 digs and Emerson Duff with three aces.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first set and stayed ahead the rest of the frame. The Bison took a 4-0 lead in the second set, but RC answered back and took an 8-7 lead, and the set was a back-and-forth battle until the Wildcats scored the final six points of the set.
In the third set, the Wildcats led most of the way and were up 19-12 before the Bison went on 11-3 run to take a 23-22 lead, and Gap finished the set with two kills.
The Bison led early in the fourth set, but the Wildcats pulled away from a 7-7 tie and went up 19-13. Snyder made three kills to help the Wildcats put the match away.
The Wildcats will continue district play at Wilson Memorial next Tuesday, starting with junior varsity action at 6 p.m.
For the story on this week’s action, with photos from RC’s 3-1 win over Staunton on Tuesday, please see our Oct. 7 newspaper.
