Eastern Montgomery High School will be the site of the Pioneer District volleyball semifinals and finals, with the semifinals scheduled for today and the championship match set for Thursday.
At press time the Craig County girls were hoping to be included. The Rockets had a Tuesday match at Bath County and that was a big one. If the Rockets won they’ll have at least three more games in their season, and possibly more.
The tournament opened with Highland County playing Eastern Montgomery on Monday. The winner of that match was at Parry McCluer Tuesday, while Craig County was at Bath. Tuesday’s winners will meet the top seeds, Covington and Narrows, in semifinal matches on Wednesday, and Craig would play Narrows at 6 pm if the Rockets are still alive.
On Thursday the championship is scheduled for 7:15 pm at East Mont, and there will also be a consolation game at 5:45 pm. So, if the Rockets win on Tuesday they’ll be guaranteed games on Wednesday, Thursday and the first round of the regional last week.
Tuesday’s match at Bath will be the third between the two teams, and the Chargers won the first two. However, Rocket setter Taylor Sloss did not play in the first two matches and she adds a lot to the attack.
The Rockets come into the tournament at 5-18. Last week they ended the regular season by winning one of three matches.
On Monday, October 16, the girls were at North Cross and lost in three, 25-20, 25-23 and 25-15. Sloss had 13 assists and four kills while Haleigh Smth had seven kills and Autumn Hutchison had three kills and a couple blocks. Mackenzie Hutchinson and Eva Myers had four aces each.
“I thought we played pretty well at North Cross,” said coach Geoff Boyer. “We led a lead slip away in that first set, and we played them close in the second.”
A night later in Buena Vista the Rockes lost to Parry McCluer in four, 25-18, 21-25, 25-20 and 25-20.
“It was a fun night, both teams played well,” said Boyer.
Sloss had 20 assists, seven kills, three blocks and two aces on a good all-around night. Jaci McAlwee had 10 kills and Nicole Austin had eight.
Thursday the girls were back home for “Senior Night,” as Sloss and Myers were recognized. The Rockets celebrated with a win, beating the Mustangs in three sets, 26-24, 25-18 and 25-13.
Craig was down 24-20 in the first set before scoring the final six points to pull out the win. That turned the match around and the Rockets dominated the next two to win going away. Sloss had 23 assists and six kills and McAlwee had 11 kills. Smith had six kills and five aces, Austin had three kills and three aces and Hutchison had five kills.