Orioles still soaring after win in Jamestown

"They just want West Middlesex." - Paige Cresswell's mom

Story by Lisa Renwick

COVID has affected high school athletic teams all over the state. The Rocky Grove girls volleyball team has certainly been one of them.

The Lady Orioles have gone at least seven days without playing a match twice already this season. So it would make sense that one area of weakness for the Region 1-leading squad is consistency. Fortunately for the Orioles, they find ways to make up for it when it matters the most.

Rocky Grove let Jamestown make it a close match on Thursday night. But with the pressure on, the Orioles found a way.

They got that perfect pass from libero Devin Rhoads; they got that perfect set from Courtney Clark; they got that perfect line shot for a kill from Abby Willliams; and forced the Muskies to make mistakes en route to a 25-23, 25-23, 25-13 win.

​The Orioles, who are still waiting for a new date for a first-place showdown with West MIddlesex after a postponnment a week ago, are now 6-0 overall and 5-0 in the region.

---

“My nervousness was coming in after being out and being postponed because of some things at the school,” Rocky Grove coach MIke Stevenson said. “But these girls, because of the work they put in in the preseason …”
​
Jamestown had all the excitement going into the match after paying tribute to their fall sports seniors in front of a rather large hometown crowd. It didn’t take long, though, for the Orioles to snatch that momentum as they rolled to a 7-0 advantage in the opening set thanks to a tremendous performance by Clark at the service line and some ball handling miscues by the Muskies. 

---

In what would become a theme in the first two sets, the Orioles let Jamestown climb back, and a once 10-point lead (15-5) quickly dwindled to just one (21-20) with the help of an 8-0 run by the Muskies.

Rocky Grove did push its advantage back to four and was at game-point before the Muskies went on another run to pull back to within one (24-23) on an ace by Libby Babcock. Her next serve sailed just over the head of a ducking Rhoads to give the Orioles the win. If Rhoads was an inch taller the ball would've hit her and the set would've been tied.

Rocky Grove did the exact same thing in the second set. The Orioles bolted out to a commanding lead. This time, Rocky Grove maintained that lead longer and seemed to have it in the bag up 23-15. 
​
After what appeared to be an Orioles set ending point, a reversed out-of-bounds call (after both teams had exited the floor to huddle up for the start of Game 3) seemed to bring the Muskies to life and they, again, climbed to within just a point (24-23).

​A block by Williams ended it 25-23

---

“We went five games with Jamestown at our school in our first region game,” Stevenson said. “And then we travel an hour on a bus, sit through Senior Night and do what they did tonight. This is what I expected.”

Rocky Grove left little question in the third set, dominating from start to finish.

Clark finished with 26 assists and seven aces. Rylee Reed added seven kills, four aces and five digs.
​
Williams delivered four aces as well and contributed eight kills and two blocks. Abby Cable had four kills; Sarah Plumer had four kills and four blocks; Paige Cresswell had three aces; and Rhoads had four aces and nine digs.

Rocky Grove returns to action on Saturday when they travel to compete at the Redbank Tournament.

​To see even more photo click here.
​

A Privilege

Being back in the gym by Lisa Renwick

I watched volleyball on Thursday. Why is this significant you might ask? So, OK, I saw maybe a match back in May during the high school boys season. But. before tonight, it had been almost a year since I last saw what I figured might be the last girls volleyball match I attend until my daughter (hopefully) plays in roughly 8-10 years.
And watching girls volleyball in this area is what you can call an absolute privilege. There are a few reasons why, but it didn’t take very long Thursday night for the main reason to show its hand.
Rocky Grove’s Abby Williams made a sensational dig. The next player then mishandled the ball and Jamestown was awarded a point.
Not a single Rocky Grove player made any gesture regarding the error.
The focus was on that prior beautiful dig by Williams.
I suppose this can be said about all high school sports. Maybe I have just watched more volleyball in my life to appreciate it during that activity more so than others. High school sports are about more than competition.
You see kids as freshmen, who are just figuring out who they are in life, grow into adults in such a unique way.
​It’s a real privilege and I’m so glad I found myself back in a gym Thursday night.

​__________________

If you haven't seen Lisa's district round-ups here on Eight & 322 you can read them by scrolling down in sports or visit week one here, week two here land week three here.

​And she wrote a season preview story that you can read here.

​To see even more photo click here.

​