Grace Rallies To Stun Ridgeview in Five Sets

STAUNTON – Senior Night turned into a memorable evening for the Grace Christian volleyball team as the Warriors rallied from a 2-0 deficit against archrival Ridgeview Christian with a dominant performance in the final three sets.

Ridgeview entered the contest with a 9-2 record and owned a 3-0 victory over Grace in the first meeting of the season. After two sets Monday, Ridgeview appeared well on its way to completing the sweep of its rival.

However, after dropping the first two sets, 25-18, 25-22, the Warriors stunned the visitors by winning the final three sets, 25-7, 25-16, 15-3.

“We certainly didn’t play great in the first two sets, although the second set was a little better,” said Grace head coach Gary Hockman. “Then things just started to click. We started playing together and we played smart. We were aggressive. It was quite a comeback.”

The Warriors jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the third set before the Crusaders started chipping away at the deficit, trimming the margin to 8-5.

Then, Ridgeview was hit with an avalanche of points.

A kill by Sara Young gave Grace a side-out and a 9-5 lead. Katherine Smith then served the next 13 points, giving Grace a commanding 22-5 lead. Smith served six aces during her time at the service line, including five in a row to make the score 17-5. Young added another kill and block for the Warriors during the decisive run. 

Ridgeview stopped the onslaught with two points, but Young and Jessie Greenmun combined for a block and Amelia Rylak added a kill to move Grace to set point. A hitting error by Ridgeview ended the set.

The Warriors rode the momentum into the fourth set.

Grace held a slim 15-12 lead in the fourth set before a five-point spurt pushed the Warriors lead to 20-12.

A block and a kill by Greenmum kept the Warriors in command, 22-15, and Grace closed out the set 25-16.

Ridgeview was unable to slow down the Warriors in the fifth and deciding set.

A kill by Amaya Elijah pulled Ridgeview to within 2-1 before Grace scored eight unanswered points. A block by Young and two aces by Margaret Shomo made the score 6-2. Young then added two more kills for an 8-2 lead. A Ridgeview hitting error and a combined block by Young and Greenmun gave the home team a 10-2 lead. 

After a point by the Crusaders, two more kills by Young moved the Warriors closer to completing the comeback at 12-2. Rylak, one of Grace’s four seniors, put the exclamation point on the comeback with a kill to end the fifth set 15-3.  

Unofficially, Young tallied 15 kills with 11 coming in the final three sets. She also had five total blocks.

The Warriors served 16 aces in the match, 11 over the final three sets. Smith finished with seven service aces.

“We talk about serving a lot and we work on it every day in practice,” said Hockman. “It paid off tonight.”