By Randy Arrington
LURAY, Oct. 19 — In front of a packed crowd, the Luray Bulldogs swept cross-county rival Page in three sets during Thursday night’s regular season volleyball finale. Four days later, the two rivals will meet a third time in the quarterfinals of the Bull Run District Tournament at 6 p.m. Monday night in Luray.
Thursday night’s win left the Bulldogs’ regular season at 13-7 overall and 9-5 in the Bull Run, for sole possession of third place in the district. The Panthers fell to 7-14 overall and 4-10 in the district, for sole possession of sixth.
Central (14-0, 19-1) is the only undefeated team left, and the top seed will host Mt. View (0-14, 1-19) on Monday. Second-seeded Clarke (11-3, 13-7) will host seventh-seeded Strasburg (2-12, 2-18) , while Rappahannock (12-8) and Madison (11-7) fight out a No.4/No.5 battle with an identical 8-6 district record.
The Region B volleyball tournament will begin the following week with much the same lineup, however, with the potential addition of Riverheads and Stuarts Draft from the Shenandoah District. Depending on the results of this week’s district tournaments, Riverheads could enter the region tournament as a fourth or fifth seed, and Draft as seventh or eighth seed, effectively knocking out Mt. View. Rappahannock drops out to participate in Class 1 postseason play.
On Thursday night, the first set of the rivalry match between Luray and Page proved to be the closest, featuring eight ties and half a dozen lead changes. Luray jumped out to a 4-1 lead thanks to two aces from junior Avery Jewell. Three points would be the biggest margin in the set the rest of the way as Page County got strong play from sophomore Addyson Wyant, who recorded three of her four kills on the night in the opening set. After tying the set at 19, 20, 21 and 22…the Bulldogs scored the last three points and won 25-22.
After an early 3-0 start by Page, the second set remained close in the early going. Then Luray slowly took the lead and built it up to a 19-11 advantage behind the strong play of seniors Gracie Embry and Summer Forder, who combined for five kills and three aces in the set. Luray won the second set 25-16.
The third set mirrored the second, with Page jumping out to a quick lead. The score remained close early again, knotting up four times before either team reached 10. While things stayed slightly closer than the second set, Luray would go on two separate 6-0 runs and take the final set 25-18 to claim the match, 3-0.
Luray was once again lead by its solid senior duo of Embry, who had 10 kills and an ace, and Forder, who ended the night with nine kills and three aces. Junior Kate Taglauer recorded five kills and two aces, while Jewel finished with three kills and three aces. Sophomore Reese Fitton had three kills and four aces.
Page County spread things out more, with eight different players contributing points through kills or aces. Wyant lead the way with four kills, while senior Destiny Wright posted three kills and senior Adryn Martin had two. Senior Hailey Housden also recorded two kills.
For full schedules, rosters and standings — check out the Bull Run District website.
•••
RELATED ARTICLES
Martin leads Panthers to sweep of Generals
Luray moves into second-place tie with Clarke after four-set win over Eagles
Luray barely escapes exhilarating rivalry match at Page after dropping first two sets
Bulldogs drop district match to Central, 3-1, but remain among top four in Bull Run
Panthers win district opener over Generals in three straight sets
Bulldogs open season with win over Stuarts Draft
Be the first to comment