Virginia High School Volleyball - Kettle Run can't hold off New Kent
November 16, 2024: Nokesville, VA 20181 In Saturday's non-league match, the New Kent Trojans (New Kent, VA) volleyball squad tipped the host Kettle Run Cougars (Nokesville, VA), by a count of 3-2.
Next up, the Trojans confront the Grafton Clippers (Yorktown, VA) in a non-league match, on Tuesday, November 19. New Kent will attempt to move on its 23-3 season record. The Clippers enter the match with a 25-2 record after their 3-0 non-league win over Warren County (Front Royal, VA).
Match Summary
The Lady Trojans needed five sets to win their state quarterfinal match against the Cougars of Kettle Run, the Region 3B Champions. The teams alternated wins, with NK winning the 1st, 3rd, and 5th sets, while KR won sets 2 and 4. In an incredibly close match, NK only outscored KR by one point, 107 to 106. KR tallied 65 Ks to NK's 57, but NK made only 24 hitting errors to KR's 31, giving KR a 1-point advantage in the hitting game. NK managed six aces to KR's 3, but KR responded with only 3 serving errors to NK's 7, again giving KR a 1-point advantage in serving. But, despite KR's front row being all 5'9 and taller players to NK's two 5'9 players, the Lady Trojans out-blocked the Cougars 12 to 4 and recorded no blocking errors to KR's 2 for a deciding 10-point win in the blocking game. Individual highlights for NK included Leah Rounds' career-high 21 Ks, Fallon Greenawalt's 15 Ks, Kendall White's 8 Ks and 6 blks, Makenzie Loveland's 46 assists, Abby McLaughlin's 46 passes and 22 digs.