Fort wins in 5; Giants have one more shot

Fort Defiance came back to win in five games 25-21, 15-25, 12-25, 25-22 and 15-6 against Waynesboro on Thursday in the first round of the Region III tournament.

Fort plays Stuarts Draft on Saturday to determine the No. 1 seed in the district championship match and Waynesboro hosts Rockbridge for the No. 3 seed in the consolation match.

Game 1 went back-and-forth between the teams, with the Little Giants keeping the lead for most of the game until a tip from Katie Dunsmore tied the game at 19. The Indians then proceeded to go on an unanswered five-point run to take the game.

Fort lost the momentum in the next two games. Waynesboro started Game 2 on a straight five-point run with two aces from Haley Quesenbery. Hard kills from Rachel Binda kept the Little Giants on a roll.

The Waynesboro runs were broken up here and there with kills from Becca Houff and Dunsmore. The Little Giants finished off the second game with an ace from Binda.

Game 3 played out close to the previous, with Quesenbery leading the Little Giants with four straight aces to start. Waynesboro’s Binda took control at the net, sending solid kills to the corners and blocking everything in sight. The Indians were stuck on their heels and unable to answer the Little Giants’ call.

“We had to get our passes up,” said Fort Defiance coach Lynn Alexander. “We knew that Waynesboro had strong hitters and we needed better communication on our back row.”

Again Waynesboro took control early in Game 4 until a pass into the net tied it at 13. A consecutive six-point run from the Indians put them in the lead 18-13, but the Little Giants, although out of juice, wouldn’t be put down easy.

Mental errors on Waynesboro’s side played out well for Fort, until Quesenbery stepped up with strong back-to-back kills putting the Little Giants within one. A long shot from Waynesboro hands plus a kill from Fort’s Dunsmore ended it, tying the games at two and sending the teams into a fifth game.

“We got stuck on our heels in Games 2 and 3,” Alexander said. “This is such an emotional and mental game, it can really get you off your toes.”

The final game went back-and-forth until the Indians took off on an uninterrupted six-point run. The Little Giants just couldn’t get a break. A short four-point run led by Fort’s Dunsmore took the Indians over the limit.

“They just pulled it all together,” Alexander said. “We had a lot of enthusiasm on the floor and from the bench.”

Houff led the way for the Indians with 18 kills and 22 digs, Jordan Leake helped with 36 assists, while Tiffany Lockridge had 17 service points and Dunsmore had 4 blocks.

“We just need to keep our intensity from Game 1 to the final point,” Alexander said. “They need to remember that there’s no clock running against us, we can take forever if we want.”