Blue Ridge falls in first round

BY JOBY FAWCETT

Blue Ridge faced a heavy hitter and had no way to counter.

The District 2 Class A champions battled but couldn’t overcome the power and precision of their opponents Tuesday night (Nov. 4) in the first round of the PIAA girls volleyball tournament at North Pocono High School.

Blue Ridge lost to District 4 champion Troy in three games, 25-16, 25-18 and 25-14.

In the first match, Blue Ridge (15-6) ran into a talented team motivated to make amends for a first-round exit from last season’s Class AA state tournament.

Kelsey Bristol displayed her all-around game, powering 12 kills to the floor, digging out seven, and scoring 18 service points.

“We got off to a slow start, and we went out in the first round of states last year, losing to Holy Redeemer, so we realized that we had to work hard in this match,” Bristol said. “We just didn’t want to be done.”

Jennifer Shults led the way on the front line with 13 kills and eight digs.

Kari Ammerson led the defensive charge that kept thwarting any Blue Ridge attack as she finished with 16 digs and then added 11 points.

“We definitely picked things up,” Shults said. “Once we felt that were had to pick things up, our energy picked up and we just went after it.”

Blue Ridge had fight in it.

Kristine Carlsen had five kills and Hayleigh Fekette chipped in with four and three points. Megan Houlihan had four points and three kills.

But the Lady Raiders never found a rhythm.

In the first game, Carlsen had three of her kills, but Bristol helped Troy take command with a seven-point run that featured a pair of hard aces and two kills by Shults.

Bristol also provided a late spark by scoring four of the last five in a 25-16 win.

“We really just started smiling,” Bristol said. “We just had to shake the nerves off and we focused on the match.”

Both Bristol and Shults helped build an early 12-6 lead in the second that Blue Ridge never recovered from.

Then Troy left little to chance by jumping out to a 16-3 advantage in the third game as Bristol was at it again, scoring three aces in a four-point run.

“They had bigger hitters than we had,” Blue Ridge coach Lori Zick said. “We had a really good group of seniors who did a great job of leading and didn’t let us get down. We got two or three points behind and they helped us keep fighting back.

“I couldn’t be more proud of them for that.”