The Mathews High School varsity volleyball team got back on the winning track, defeating Rappahannock on the road and going undefeated in Saturday’s Endless Summer Tournament to take home the gold ball. The Lady Devils kept the winning going Tuesday with a victory over Lancaster.
MHS defeated Rappahannock last Thursday in four sets by scores of 25-9, 25-27, 25-22 and 25-17. Hannah Rowe led the team with eight kills, followed by Kai McCann with seven. Jacqueline Stewart contributed five kills, Kayla Carter had three and Mariah Robinson added one. Rowe also led in digs with 12, followed by McCann and Stewart with four each. McCann and Rowe had eight and four aces,. Sophie Bandurco had eleven assists, followed by Keely Crittenden’s 10.
The varsity squad competed Saturday in the Endless Summer Tournament in Virginia Beach, starting offbracket play against Bethel, sweeping both sets 25-16 and 25-14. Next up was Nandua. Mathews won 20-25, 25-16, and 15-10. The Lady Blue Devils faced Norview, winning 26-24 and 25-19.
With the three victories, Mathews won its round-robin bracket and moved on to single elimination. In the semifinal, MHS topped Central Virginia, 25-22 and 25-19. The victory placed Mathews in the championship game and the Lady Devils topped Portsmouth Christian, winning it all by scores of 25-19 and 25-23.
In addition to taking first place and the gold ball, Mathews also had two players—Hannah Rowe and Kai McCann—named to the All-Tournament Team.
The Lady Blue Devils traveled to Lancaster Tuesday to face the Red Devils. It was a game that allowed coach Pat Moughon to make many substitutions to afford all her girls some playing time. Mathews won in three sets, 25-15, 26-24 and 25-13. Rowe, McCann, and Stewart led the team with kills of eight, seven and six, respectively. Carter and Robinson each had one. McCann aced seven serves, while Rowe had five, Brittany Mitchem had two, and Bandurco and Anna Hudgins each had one. Rowe had a team-leading seven digs. Bandurco, Hudgins, McCann and Madison South had three. Hailey Abernathy had two, and Whitney Eriksen, Allison Foster, Mitchem, Robinson and Stewart each had one. Bandurco had 13 assists for the night followed by Crittenden with six.
Jayvees win two
The jayvee Lady Devils defeated Rappahannock 25-22 and 25-15 last Thursday night. Coach Tina Reece was impressed with her girls’ serving and communicating.
On Tuesday in Lancaster, the girls struggled with consistency in the first set, but pushed through for the win, 23-25, 25-10 and 15-9.
Stacy Abernathy and Harley Haydon led the team with four kills each. Sabrina Barrack followed behind with two kills, while Olivia Gwynn, Taylor Locey, Alexis Miles and Emily Sorey each had one. Abernathy also led with aces with six, followed by Josey Bauby with four, Robin Barrack and S. Barrack each with three, and Miles and Sorey with one each. Gwynn had eight assists, Emily Carmine had four; S. Barrack and Bauby each had one.
Mathews returns home tonight to face Northumberland in a rematch of last week’s thrilling contest. The Lady Indians defeated Mathews in five sets on the Northumberland court. The jayvee game starts at 6, with the varsity contest immediately after.