The Shadow
LOW MOOR – It’s hard to imagine that an 11-seed would be the talk of the Region 3C playoff tournament when you entered the post-season with a No. 1 overall seed in Liberty Christian Academy with only one loss and the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, Alleghany and East Rockingham at three losses.
That’s the playoffs for you.
No. 11 seeded Rockbridge County headed to the regional volleyball semifinals with two upset victories over No. 6 Western Albemarle and No. 3 East Rock.
The magic though would end last Monday night when the Wildcats met up with another 3-loss team in No. 2 Alleghany.
Rockbridge did what they had done in the previous two regional games, jumped out ahead on Alleghany by winning the first set 25-23.
It was the first time since an in-season tournament at James River on September 21st that AHS lost the first set of a match.
However, the senior-led Cougars after dropping the first to the Wildcats rallied off three straight set wins to earn themselves a trip to the regional final against No. 1 Liberty Christian Academy, as well as clinched a spot in the state tournament.
Down, but far from out, the reigning Three Rivers District Champion Cougars erupted with a 25-5 second set win.
This set the precedent of what was to come for Alleghany as they closed out the match winning a tight set three and four; 25-22, 25-20.
The Cougars had 48 total kills in the win and were led by the senior trio of Kaiya Lian (13), Bryce Leitch (12), and Laken Tinger (13) as they combined for 38 kills. Lian also had 22 digs, while Leitch added 17. Sophomore Kendra Dressler had 40 assists.
Juniors Mackenzie McCormick and Jada Hamilton, who guided Rockbridge to the semifinals finished with a combined 21 kills, the same amount they had in their upset win over No. 3 East Rock. Maisen McKemy dished out 27 assists for the Wildcats.
