Game story by Lisa Renwick with photographs by Eight & 322
The gymnasium inside Rocky Grove Junior/Senior High School doesn’t lack decor.
There are plenty of orange and black banners draped against the walls acknowledging the Orioles’ accomplishments. Not one of them, however, bears the word volleyball.
The Lady Orioles were looking to change that Tuesday night when they played host to West Middlesex with a share of the Region 1 girls volleyball title on the line. They will have to wait a little bit longer.
There are plenty of orange and black banners draped against the walls acknowledging the Orioles’ accomplishments. Not one of them, however, bears the word volleyball.
The Lady Orioles were looking to change that Tuesday night when they played host to West Middlesex with a share of the Region 1 girls volleyball title on the line. They will have to wait a little bit longer.
| Rocky Grove came out strong, but couldn’t maintain the momentum as it fell to the Big Reds 25-15, 25-21, 25-13. The Orioles, who have a region match at Mercer remaining on Thursday, will settle for second place in Region 1. They are now 11-4 overall and 9-2 in the region. West Middlesex is 16-4 overall and 11-0 in Region 1. It finishes out the regular season on Thursday at Kennedy Catholic. |  |
“I hate to call it an off night,” Rocky Grove head coach Mike Stevenson said. “But, honestly, we didn’t battle. We took too many free balls over the net. When you don’t attack against a good team then you’re going to be playing on your heels playing defense. I thought that’s what we did and it really got to the girls, because we weren’t offensively able to run our plays.”
The Orioles, who fell in four sets to the Big Reds on Friday, came out with vigor on their home court with the student section deemed the Bird Gang out in full force.
But it didn’t take long for West Middlesex to change that when a lengthy stay at the service line by libero Katy Briggs erased a two-point deficit and turned it into a seven-point advantage. The Big Reds benefited from three hitting miscues and a ball-handling error by the Orioles during the run.
But it didn’t take long for West Middlesex to change that when a lengthy stay at the service line by libero Katy Briggs erased a two-point deficit and turned it into a seven-point advantage. The Big Reds benefited from three hitting miscues and a ball-handling error by the Orioles during the run.
West Middlesex extended that lead to as many as 12 points en route to the win.
The Lady Orioles were able to put together a solid response in Game 2 and were locked in quite a battle. Rocky Grove fed off a handful of WM service errors and was finally able to get something going themselves on offense, highlighted by a crowd-pleasing kill by senior Rylee Reed that gave the Orioles a 10-7 lead.
However, another big run - this time with Carlie Beatty at the service line - allowed the Big Reds to take the biggest lead of the set at 20-16. RG, again, couldn’t respond.
The Lady Orioles were able to put together a solid response in Game 2 and were locked in quite a battle. Rocky Grove fed off a handful of WM service errors and was finally able to get something going themselves on offense, highlighted by a crowd-pleasing kill by senior Rylee Reed that gave the Orioles a 10-7 lead.
However, another big run - this time with Carlie Beatty at the service line - allowed the Big Reds to take the biggest lead of the set at 20-16. RG, again, couldn’t respond.
West Middlesex slammed the door with a 12-0 run to start the third set.
“It was a tough night to watch,” Stevenson said. “And frustrating, too, to see them kind of let down and I thought we did that. I felt our seniors needed to step up being we are this late in the season. We only have so many games left to play and this is their opportunity to shine.
“We’re going to look at some things and look at some changes possibly. We have an away game at Mercer on Thursday and then we are going to wait and see what the playoff thing looks like. We haven’t heard or seen where we fall there. But we’ll be ready to go.”
“It was a tough night to watch,” Stevenson said. “And frustrating, too, to see them kind of let down and I thought we did that. I felt our seniors needed to step up being we are this late in the season. We only have so many games left to play and this is their opportunity to shine.
“We’re going to look at some things and look at some changes possibly. We have an away game at Mercer on Thursday and then we are going to wait and see what the playoff thing looks like. We haven’t heard or seen where we fall there. But we’ll be ready to go.”
The Orioles will represent Venango County and Region 1 in the upcoming District 10 Class 1A playoffs with an opportunity to still win a banner. Stevenson is hoping the Orioles’ stellar regular season and the bumps they endured along the way will be good preparation.
“When I looked at the schedule early on in the season, there were certain teams I picked to play,” Stevenson said. “Cranberry was one of them and there were a few others I felt would help us to prepare for teams in our region, whether they had good middle hitters or things like that.
“I didn’t know much about West Middlesex until we got to their school (on Friday) and obviously they have a lot of athletes and they have a lot of height. But we tried to find teams we felt would benefit us down the road and prepare us for the playoffs, because once we get there, it’s going to be all high-caliber teams. There isn’t anyone who isn’t going to be respectable. I think this will prepare us and I hope we learn from it.
“It isn’t the showing we wanted, but it is what it is. We’ll adjust and come back ready for Thursday.”
Reed led the Orioles in kills with three. Courtney Clark had four aces and seven digs. Devin Rhoads had 10 digs.
“When I looked at the schedule early on in the season, there were certain teams I picked to play,” Stevenson said. “Cranberry was one of them and there were a few others I felt would help us to prepare for teams in our region, whether they had good middle hitters or things like that.
“I didn’t know much about West Middlesex until we got to their school (on Friday) and obviously they have a lot of athletes and they have a lot of height. But we tried to find teams we felt would benefit us down the road and prepare us for the playoffs, because once we get there, it’s going to be all high-caliber teams. There isn’t anyone who isn’t going to be respectable. I think this will prepare us and I hope we learn from it.
“It isn’t the showing we wanted, but it is what it is. We’ll adjust and come back ready for Thursday.”
Reed led the Orioles in kills with three. Courtney Clark had four aces and seven digs. Devin Rhoads had 10 digs.
See more photos at https://sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p851167570
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