The Shadow
OSBORNE KILL — Alleghany senior Erin Osborne (9) records a kill past a pair of William Byrd defenders Thursday at Mountaineer Gym. The Terriers defeated the Mountaineers in four sets. (Gavin Dressler Photo)
OSBORNE KILL — Alleghany senior Erin Osborne (9) records a kill past a pair of William Byrd defenders Thursday at Mountaineer Gym. The Terriers defeated the Mountaineers in four sets. (Gavin Dressler Photo)
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The momentum was clearly with the homestanding Mountaineers early in the crucial third set here Thursday night.
After winning the second and squaring the match at a set apiece, La’Tisha Chambers and Erin Osborne both had kills and Cristen Walton served up a pair of aces early in the third and Alleghany held a 9-2 lead.
The Mountaineers weren’t able to finish.
William Byrd rallied from a 22-17 deficit and led from start to finish in the fourth, posting a 25-16, 19-25, 26-24, 25-17 Blue Ridge District win.
“It’s like we were up, we were happy, we figured we only had three points to go and then they (William Byrd) get momentum,” said Alleghany coach Tara Uzzell. “We could never get it back.”
A missed serve and two Alleghany hitting errors helped the Terrier rally.
“We keep saying we have to execute, we have to execute, we have to execute,” said Uzzell. “And we did not. We just make too many errors. We’re not finishing.”
Walton saved one set point with an ace off the top of the net, but LeeAnn Williamson’s kill and a hitting error from Alleghany ended the set.
Meredith Webb had two aces in a six-point, fourth-set serving run that secured the match.
Alleghany’s best volleyball was played in the second.
Chambers had five of her match-high 15 kills in the set and Walton had three.
The two tag-teamed a six-point spurt — two Walton aces and four Chambers kills — that turned a 12-11 deficit into a 17-12 lead.
Chambers added six digs and three blocks to her 15 kills, while Walton had a solid night with eight kills, 10 digs and four aces.
Morganne Durham added seven kills to nine digs, Osborne had six kills, Hannah Kincaid had 13 digs and Rachel Groves added eight. Sarah Loving distributed 12 digs.
Alleghany had 41 kills on the night.
Jordan Williamson had 12 kills for William Byrd, while Marleigh Walsh added seven kills and 16 digs.
Alleghany (1-4 Blue Ridge District, 7-6 overall) goes to Staunton River on Tuesday and hosts Rockbridge County on Thursday.
