Monday, Sep. 28, 2009

Report: Ridge View volleyball

Volleyball: Blazers drop Region opener to Rock Hill 3-1.

The Ridge View Blazers volleyball team opened Region 4-4A play on Tuesday, 9/22/09 by hosting the Rock Hill Bearcats. Ridge View entered Region match play with an 8-3 overall record, and Rock Hill entered at 8-2, currently ranked #4 in the State in the 4A coaches poll on SC Prepcountry.com.

The Bearcats showed why they are so highly ranked in the first set by quickly jumping out to a 14-3 advantage, behind a strong serving attack which kept the Blazers on the defensive for much of the match. The Blazers rallied late scoring 13 of the next 24 points in the match, but the early deficit was too much, as the Bearcats won the first set 25-16.

Ridge View carried over the late momentum from the first set into the second, and played a much better second set. The Blazers covered the court better defensively, improved their return of serve, and put enough pressure on the Bearcat defense with some aggressive serving and hitting of their own to force the Bearcats into some uncharacteristic misplays. Ridge View trailed 8-9 early in the set, but made a 6-1 point run to take a 14-10 lead, and was able to maintain this margin for the rest of the set, winning 25-20 to even the sets at 1 apiece.

Set 3 briefly started well for the Blazers, getting out to a quick 4-1 lead, but it was short-lived as the Bearcats scored 8 of the next 11 points to go up 9-7. Rock Hill followed that with a 9 point unanswered run to go up 18-7, behind some strong hitting and solid blocking at the net from their athletic front-line players. Rock Hill went on to win the set 25-13 to go up 2-1 in the match. Set 4 brought much of the same, as Rock Hill stayed on top throughout, closing out the match 3-1 with a 25-13 win.

The Blazers put things together in a solid 2nd set effort, but ran out of answers in the 3rd and 4th set against the powerful Rock Hill squad. Ridge View was missing one of their top hitters and blockers for the match due to illness, Keyaira Stevenson, hindering their ability to compete physically at the net with the taller Bearcats. For the Blazers, sophomore hitter/blocker Diara Lewis lead the team in kills with 10, also adding 6 digs, a solo block and a block assist. Senior setter Megan Woodall had a team-leading 14 digs, with 15 assists and 3 kills. The Blazers will take on Region rival Spring Valley on Thursday at Ridge View.

vs Rock Hill 1-3 (16-25, 25-20, 13-25, 13-25)

Megan Woodall 15 Assists, 14 Digs, 3 Kills, 2 Aces. Chanell Rose 2 Kills, 5 Digs, 1 Assist, 1 Block assist. Diara Lewis 10 Kills, 1 Ace, 6 Digs, 1 Assist, 1 Block solo, 1 Block assist. Hannah Cox 5 Kills, 1 Ace, 5 Digs, 2 Assists. Ranisha Willis 3 Kills, 3 Digs, 2 Assists, 1 Block solo. Raven Ashe 2 Aces, 4 Digs. Kendra Vaughn 1 Kill, 2 Digs.

Volleyball: Vikings top Blazers in 2nd region match 3-0.

The Ridge View Blazers volleyball team had their second Region 4-4A match of the week on Thursday, 9/24/09 as they hosted the Spring Valley Vikings. Ridge View lost their Region opener on Tuesday to 4th-ranked Rock Hill 3-1, and entered Thursdayƒs match with an 8-4 overall record. Spring Valley also lost their Region opener to Blythewood 3-0, and entered with a 7-6 overall record.

Ridge View struggled in this match from the beginning, having uncharacteristic trouble keeping their serves in play, as well as difficulty effectively returning serve from the Vikings. Actually both teams were not at their best during much of the match, leading to a lot of short rallies, serve errors, and more hitting errors than either team would like. Set 1 opened close, with both teams being tied at 7 early. The Vikings then quickly scored 8 of the next 12 points to go up 15-11, and were able to maintain a similar margin the rest of the set, winning 25-22.

Set 2 was very similar, with the two teams tied early at 8, then Spring Valley building a 4 point lead at 16-12, going on to win the set 25-20. Spring Valley put enough pressure on the Blazers to keep them on the defensive, and create Blazer misplays. The Blazers had a tough time getting into an offensive rhythm, and were unable to get back to the level of play and determination that was there when they defeated Rock Hill in Set 2 on Tuesday night.

Set 3 saw the Vikings build an early 9-point lead at 15-6, but the Blazers rallied, and scored 13 of the next 17 points to tie things at 19. The Blazers improved their court coverage, and began putting some pressure on the Viking defense by keeping more balls in play, and improving their offensive execution. The teams traded points until the Blazers had set point at 24-23, but Spring Valley ran off 3 consecutive late points to take the 3rd set 26-24.

For the Blazers, senior hitter Chanell Rose tied for the team lead in kills with 10, and also had 5 serve aces (most coming late in the 3rd set during the Blazer run). Senior Hannah Cox added 6 kills and 3 serve aces. Sophomore blocker/hitter Diara Lewis put away 10 kills, and had 8 defensive digs. Senior setter Megan Woodall had 22 assists in the match, adding 2 aces and a pair of kills. Libero Raven Ashe had a team-leading 9 defensive digs.

Next up for the Blazers will be travelling to Lancaster for a Region match with the Bruins on Tuesday, 9/29/09.

vs Spring Valley 0-3 (22-25, 20-25, 24-26)

Megan Woodall 22 Assists, 3 Digs, 2 Kills, 2 Aces. Chanell Rose 10 Kills, 5 Aces, 6 Digs. Diara Lewis 10 Kills, 2 Aces, 8 Digs, 3 Assists, 1 Block solo. Hannah Cox 6 Kills, 3 Aces, 3 Digs, 1 Assist. Ronnisha Willis 4 Kills, 2 Aces, 2 Digs, 1 Assist, 1 Block solo. Raven Ashe 1 Ace, 9 Digs. Kendra Vaughn 1 Ace, 1 Dig, 1 Assist.

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