Radford tops Carroll in classic between communities dealing with a hurricane

One night after not being able to travel over to Marion High School for a scheduled non-district match, Carroll County hosted Radford High on Tuesday night. The final score will show that the Bobcats returned up Highway 100 with a thrilling 3-2 victory after taking the deciding fifth set in extras, 18-16.

The amount of life that has transpired over the past six days off the volleyball court, including the fact that CCHS still hasn’t been able to reopen its doors, made the three-plus hours of competition even more enjoyable from a diversion aspect.

Carroll County (7-6, 4-2 Three Rivers District) has now completed the front half of its District slate and has faced each of the nine opponents at least one time.

The Lady Cavaliers showed no signs of rust early on, taking the opening set 25-21. As has been the case all season long, Carroll County was giving away inches across the front line but the team's ability to dig and set allowed them to hold Radford's big hitters at bay.

The second set was a mirror image of the opening one with Ali Wright and Aza Petty taking turns finishing off sets from the floor quarterback, Laiken Burnett (39 assists, 29 digs). Burnett added six kills on plays that need to transition from being called 2-balls to being called Quarterback Sneaks. The split second that the junior has while the ball is coming towards her, to try and steal a look at the defense, led to six crucial points when Burnett saw an opening and took advantage.

Leading 2-0 and hoping to close out the match, Carroll County ran into a buzzsaw in the third set. Radford has two big hitters and an excellent setter and the trio all found a groove at the same time. When the dust settled the Bobcats were back in the match, following a 25-12 victory.

Two obstacles that head coach Cindy Edwards is facing and will be facing throughout the season is a lack of height and lack of varsity experience. The team is gaining experience on the fly and that led them to shake off the tough third set and get right back at it in the fourth set.

Radford was playing with a bit of momentum on its side but the Lady Cavs showed a great deal of toughness in set four. Radford's Jaylyn Holt is quite possibly going to be named the District Player of the Year in a couple of months and while she was peaking in set four, CCHS refused to back down.

The set was tied at 20-20, in large part due to the efforts of Callie Harris. The junior finished up with 37 digs, seven assists and two aces, while not all of the digs came off the arm of Holt or in the fourth set, it truly felt that way.

Holt finally forced the fifth and deciding set with three more kills in the 25-21 final.

Anytime a match goes to a fifth and final set it's all about momentum. Wright made sure that the mojo was on the side of the Lady Cavaliers as she crushed four consecutive kills to give CCHS a 5-1 lead. Petty pushed the lead out to 9-3 with back-to-back kills. The Lady Cavaliers reached match point at 14-11 on a Wright kill before Holt put her team on her shoulders.

Trailing 15-14, CCHS saved the match with an incredible play that belongs on a Volleyball training video. The final two players to touch the ball were Petty and Harris, with the ball somehow crossing the net to tie the score at 15-15. Wright added her final kill to make it 16-15 before Radford and Holt finished the night off with three straight points.

While Carroll County will remain short in regards to height they are shedding the tag of inexperience. Coach Edwards and her young ladies are growing up right before our very eyes.

CCHS returns to action on Thursday at Alleghany before returning home to host Gate City on Saturday afternoon.

The JV team defeated the Bobcats 2-1 (12-25, 25-22,15-11). Leigha Harrad had the honor of finishing off the victory with a kill but it was truly a team effort for Coach Jason Petty and Company.