Gladiators knock off Alleghany

GREENVILLE – Riverheads came out on top on Thursday against Alleghany, winning in five games 18-25, 25-17, 25-16, 7-25 and15-9.
The Gladiators had a rough start in the first game with errors and long, wide shots across court. The game went back and forth between teams until the Mountaineers pulled away with four consecutive points to end the game.
Riverheads picked up the momentum in the second game when Kelley Tuennermann served two aces and three other service points in a row to start, but Alleghany came back with five points of its own to tie. Plays from Gladiators’ Kelsie Floyd, and mistakes from the Mountaineers, took Riverheads to another heavy lead. Riverheads took the game at the end with uninterrupted kills from Tuennermann, Tiffany Flesher, and Jessica Glover.
The third game played out much like the first. The Gladiators tore away with nine straight points at the end from plays by Katie Coffey and Monica Weaver.
Coffey was unstoppable on the court throughout all the games. The 5-foot, 3-inch freshman controlled the floor with dig after dig and kill after kill, leaving the Mountaineers with their knees on the floor, along with their jaws.
“Katie’s a real hustler,” said Riverheads coach Whitney Dove. “She’s got it in her.”
The fourth game was a surprising outcome for the Gladiators. Down 1-2, Alleghany directed the game in its favor with hard serves.
“That fourth game blew my mind,” Dove said. “I’m sure they were tired but I don’t know what was going through their heads.”
This was the last of three back-to-back matches for the Gladiators, who were running on pure adrenaline.
The Gladiators beat themselves with bad passes and miscommunication.
“It was just bad communication and errors,” said Dove. “They’ve been pulling it out and have been playing together to get the wins.”
It was the fifth game that showed Riverheads’ true side. Two aces from Weaver along with kills from Flesher and Floyd got the ball rolling. The Gladiators left the Mountaineers in single digits, showing that they wouldn’t be put down easy.
Weaver had 13 service points along with 12 assists while Floyd had 10 assists and six kills. Coffey and Taylor Blackwell-Kershner each had nine digs. Flesher had two blocks and seven kills and Glover had six kills.
“I just want to get their motivation up, and it is,” Dove said. “They’ve proved that they are going to be tough to beat.”
The Gladiators (4-1) will face Bath County on Monday.
Riverheads’ JV also won 25-17,25-14 and Allie Casto had 12 service points.