By Michael Lindsay
The UCR Volleyball Game of the Week traveled to Carthage Wednesday afternoon for an in-school matchup between the Smith County Owls and Gordonsville Tigerettes, and it was Gordonsville who left with a victory in 5 sets.
“We enjoy doing the in-school game,” said Gordonsville head coach Brian Leslie. “You get to play in front of all your friends, and when you’re across the river you have to play in a hostile environment. This will hopefully help us down the road.”
Gordonsville trailed 14-11 in the fifth set before reeling off 5 consecutive points to close out the 16-14 win.
“We dug a hole (in the fifth set) just like we did in the second and fourth,” said Leslie. “It came down to our back row and just finding a way to keep it off the floor. We thought we knew what they’d do on their next opportunities, but they’re hard to stop with their size.”
The Tigerettes won the first set 25-13 before Smith County answered in the second with a 25-19 victory. Gordonsville went up 2-1 with a 25-13 win in the third set before the Lady Owls came back to take the fourth set 25-17, forcing a 5th set that the Tigerettes won 16-14.
Derionna Bell led Gordonsville with 15 kills along with Callie Dillard posting 8 kills and 8 aces. Ashlyn Naylor tacked on 8 kills and 2 blocks.
Smith County’s Shelby Bamford racked up 12 kills along with 11 by Chloe Collins.
Gordonsville improves to 12-1 overall and travels to Monterey on Thursday night.
“Monterey is a tough team and has a lot of momentum going right now,” said Leslie. “We have to keep our emotions in check and focus on the little things with them.”
