REGION 4-1A VOLLEYBALL SEMIFINALS: Gordonsville Outlasts Jackson County In 5 Sets, Advances To Championship vs. East Robertson

By Michael Lindsay

Gordonsville and East Robertson volleyball will meet for the fourth time this season Tuesday evening after both teams won their respective Region 4-1A tournament semifinal matches Monday in Jamestown.

East Robertson opened the night with a 3-1 victory over host York Institute. The Lady Indians took the first two sets before York battled back to win the third, 25-18, but East Robertson closed out the match with a fourth-set victory.

Gordonsville began its semifinal match against Jackson County with a 25-14 win in the first set before Jackson County evened things up with a 26-24 victory in the second. The Tigerettes regained the lead in the third as an Ashlyn Naylor kill capped off a 25-19 win to go up 2-1.

Facing elimination in the fourth set, Jackson County jumped out to a 21-14 lead before closing it out, 25-20, to force a decisive fifth set to 15.

“We definitely didn’t play our best ball tonight, and Jackson County had a lot to do with that,” said Gordonsville head coach Brian Leslie. “They’ve got a really good block and some really good hitters and had us out of kilter for a lot of the match.”

Gordonsville took control early in the fifth set, jumping out to a 9-3 lead on a Naylor kill before sealing the 15-6 win with an ace by libero Melinda Holder.

“We finally got our outsides going with some big swings,” Leslie said. “We had good enough passes to be able to find them.”

Up next for Gordonsville is the Region 4-1A championship against East Robertson on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at York Institute. The teams split their regular-season meetings before Gordonsville defeated East Robertson in the District 8-1A championship with each matchup going five sets.

Regardless of Tuesday’s outcome, Gordonsville will advance to the Class 1A sectional round later this week with a state tournament berth on the line.

“We sure want to win and host a substate game,” Leslie said. “We know them (East Robertson) well, and they know us well. All three matches have gone to five sets, and I’m looking for us to play a lot better tomorrow night. It should be a good, back-and-forth contest.”