MHS girls fall to Raiders, shut out Indians

The Mathews High School varsity volleyball team took on a pair of Northern Neck foes in the past week, dropping a 3-0 contest to Rappahannock and shutting out the visiting Northumberland Indians by the same 3-0 score. The MHS girls’ record continues to stay at .500, 5-5 overall.

Rappahannock

Last Thursday, the Lady Devils traveled to Richmond County, falling to the Raiders by scores of 25-16, 25-15 and 25-21.
Morgan Crittenden led the team in aces with five. Other MHS girls scoring aces included Connie Johnson with two and Joice Small and Grace Bandurco each with one.

Aleya McCurry had the most assists with seven, followed by Bandurco with four and Crittenden and Jordan Hunley each with one. Offensively, Small had an outstanding seven kills, followed by Crittenden and Olivia Ashbaugh each with three, Hunley with two, and McCurry and Sarah Ashbaugh each with one.

Defensively, Johnson, the team’s libero, led with the most digs of five, followed by McCurry with four, Crittenden with three, and Bandurco and Hunley each with two. Small had five solo blocks, while she and Olivia Ashbaugh each had two assisted blocks.

Northumberland

The MHS girls turned things around on Tuesday as they took on the visiting Northumberland Indians, with a straight-set victory, 25-19, 25-13 and 25-10.

Crittenden and Small each had three aces to lead the Lady Devils. Other aces were scored by Bandurco (two), and McCurry and Aly Jackson (one each). McCurry had the most assists on the night with eight, followed by Bandurco with five and Small with two.

Small once again dominated at the net with an outstanding 11 kills, followed by McCurry with four, Crittenden and Meghan Pruitt each with three, Hunley with two, and Jackson and Olivia Ashbaugh with one apiece. Defensively, McCurry had the most digs with 11, followed by Crittenden with eight, Johnson with five, Hunley with two, and Jackson with one.

Small had another five amazing solo blocks in this game. She also had the most assisted blocks with four, followed by Pruitt with three, and Olivia Ashbaugh with one.

The MHS girls were scheduled to host King William last night and travel to King and Queen today.

Following this week’s final in-season games, the varsity Lady Devils are expected to start as one of the top four teams for the regional tournament that begins on Monday, April 12, after spring break.

MHS junior varsity player Brooklyne Fulford (#10) hits the ball over the net as the JV Lady Devils went on to defeat Northumberland on Tuesday, 2-1.

JV girls

Meanwhile, the JV Lady Devils mirrored what their varsity counterparts did this week, falling to Rappahannock last Thursday 2-0 (with losses of 25-19 and 25-9) and beating the Northumberland Indians, 2-1.
In the Northumberland match, the girls won the first and third sets, 25-12 and 15-8, while losing the second in a close 26-24 battle.