Madison County’s volleyball team didn’t panic — with a two-game lead there was no reason to get desperate.
Instead, the Mountaineers stayed calm and found a way to rally and put away Clarke County in game four, winning the Bull Run District tournament title 3-1.
“Getting the first two was really really big for us,” said Madison coach Lindsey Von Herbuils, who was awarded the Bull Run’s coach of the year award after the match. “We just had players stepping up. We had the right plays at the right time.”
The Mountaineers won 25-19 and 25-23 in games one and two, but stumbled in game three, going down big early and falling 25-17. Clarke rode that momentum to a 17-15 lead in the fourth game, but Madison settled back in and locked the game in a tie at 20-20. From there Madison gained an edge and won 25-23 to close out the victory and the tournament title.
Chandler Gentry’s effort, as usual, was a critical part of the win. Gentry came up with 33 digs and posted10 kills against Clarke. After the game she was named the district’s player of the year.
Gentry got a lot of help up front from Katy Sorrell, who has come on of late after an early season injury. Sorrell had 10 kills on the night.
“She started off the season and had a shoulder injury that knocked her out of the running,” Von Herbuils said. “She’s had to really work hard to get back in the starting lineup. She had a great game a couple of weeks ago against Clarke and was just playing smart. In this one she had her confidence back.”
Logan Coates rounded out the bulk of the effort on the front line with six kills. She also chipped in 15 assists. Bailey Colvin led Madison with 23 assists.
Madison will now face East Rockingham in the Region B, Division 1 quarterfinals where the Mountaineers are the No. 2 seed. Game time is 7 p.m. Tuesday at Madison.
