Prep Volleyball: Bears halt ‘Cats’ rally

BY ADAM HIMMELSBACH

The Riverbend volleyball team overcame a late rally by Mountain View and held on for a 3–1 win in a Commonwealth District match Tuesday night.

The Bears cruised through the first two games, 25–12 and 25–15. Riverbend coach Brianne Slattery went to her bench in the third game, and Mountain View took advantage with a 25–22 win.

Riverbend returned its starters for the majority of the fourth game, but for a while it looked as if it wouldn’t matter. Mountain View had the momentum, and it surged to a 24–20 lead. But the Bears rallied with six consecutive points to close out the match 26–24.

“We just got a little bit overconfident,” Riverbend’s Danielle Deiters said. “We let the other team play their game instead of playing ours.”

Deiters paced Riverbend (6–1) with 31 assists and nine aces. Shadae Strother had 10 kills and four blocks, and Miranda Mitchell had 11 kills. For Mountain View, Victoria Larned had 19 blocks and Katy Garrity added 51 digs.

Wildcats coach Rachel Marcy said her team was motivated by the fact that Riverbend went to its bench after securing a comfortable early lead.

“They maybe took us a little lightly,” Marcy said, “and we showed we’re a team that can compete with them.”

After Riverbend breezed through the first two games, it looked as if the night would end quickly. The Bears even held a 16–12 lead in the third game before they began to unravel. A kill by Mountain View’s Taylor Fernow tied the score at 19. Suzanna Weisband served up an ace to give the Wildcats a 23–21 lead, and they held on for the 25–22 win.

“We were moving our feet and putting the ball away,” Marcy said. “We weren’t being timid; we were putting the ball away.”

Riverbend regrouped and returned to its starting lineup, but by that time Mountain View had all the momentum. The Wildcats were digging, blocking and swatting, and each point seemed to give them more confidence. Riverbend, meanwhile, was getting flustered.

“We can’t play down to anyone’s level,” Slattery said. “We have to stay focused.”

Mountain View stormed to a 17–10 lead in the fourth game, and it appeared that a fifth game was imminent. At 24–20, the Wildcats had three game-points. But the Bears fought off one game point, and then gave the ball to Deiters. Brett Pettus smashed a kill to make it

24–22, and Deiters then served up an ace.

“I just wanted to get the ball in,” she said, “because that’s all we needed. And after the first couple of serves, I started getting a feel of where to put it.”

Riverbend made it 24-all when Mountain View knocked a shot out of bounds, then Deiters added yet another ace. Finally, Pettus closed out the match with a kill.

“We let them take the momentum back,” Marcy said. “We had it. We were up, and then we let them take it back and didn’t finish like we should.”

Adam Himmelsbach: 540/374-5442

ahimmelsbach@freelancestar.com

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