Gators come up short

The Virginia Peninsula Community College women's volleyball team had a busy week with two dual matches and one tri-match.

The Gators opened the week with a three-set loss to visiting Central Carolina Community College on Monday, Sept. 16. The scores were 26-24, 25-13, 25-20.

Kingsleigh Guinn (Kecoughtan High School) had 13 kills and eight digs for the Gators. Berkeley Stenger (Peninsula Catholic) added 22 assists, 12 digs and three solo blocks. JuZiea Barton-Green (Bruton) added 10 digs.

VPCC was in control in the first set, taking an 11-4 lead. The Cougars tied it at 15 and it was back-and-forth from there. The Gators earned a set point on a spike by Ashleigh Yost (Smithfield) for a 24-23 lead, but lost the final three points of the set, which featured seven ties and five lead changes.

In the second set, VPCC never led and it was tied just once, at 1. The Gators were down just 10-7 before the Cougars stretched it to 20-12. They closed it out on their first set point.

The third set was more like the first, with three ties and one lead change. The Gators led 16-9 before the Cougars tied it at 19. They finished the match with a 6-1 run.

"We hit the ball well. They're getting better," said coach Tommy Thomas.

Fewer than 24 hours later, the team was back in action against Richard Bland College, getting swept but also getting closer in each set. The final scores were 25-6, 25-11, 25-13.

Stenger had eight assists and six digs as the team was held to eight kills, with no one having more than three.

In the first set, the visiting Statesmen jumped out to leads of 8-2 and 16-6 en route to the win. It was much closer in the second set, which featured one tie and two lead changes. The Gators led 4-2 before RBC took control with a 7-0 run. In set No.3, the Gators again were ahead early, 2-0, before the Statesmen took the lead for good at 9-8. They stretched it to 18-10 before closing out the match on their first match point. The final set featured four ties and one lead change.

The Gators concluded their hectic week by traveling to Southwest Virginia Community College, which is west of Blacksburg, for a tri-match Saturday, Sept. 22. They suffered three-set losses to the hosts and Davidson-Davie Community College. The scores against Davidson-Davie were 25-13, 25-14, and 25-19.