Giants advance to semis

Except for a brief lapse in Game 3, Waynesboro maintained enough momentum and focus to ward off upset-minded Robert E. Lee 3-1 in quarterfinal action of the Southern Valley Volleyball tournament Monday.

Rachel Binda provided the firepower with 19 kills — including eight in Game 4 — as the senior led all scorers.

The win propels the Little Giants into Tuesday’s semifinal match up with Stuarts Draft.

Waynesboro won a pair of close games, 25-21 and 25-19 and didn’t lead in either one until the points hit double digits.

Lee grabbed a 7-2 lead in the first contest as Kendra Scott drilled five kills and Waynesboro had its problems at the net. A Little Giant timeout righted the ship and Waynesboro chipped away at the lead.

A Binda kill finally gave the hosts the lead at 11-10 but they didn’t lead again until a Binda ace made it 16-15. With the score tied at 18-18, Rachel Smith served up four straight points as Lee fell apart and committed three unforced errors. A Callie Owens kill preceded a Lee timeout, but the damage was done.

In Game 2, Waynesboro didn’t see a lead until Owens found the sideline with a kill to make it 16-15 and Lee gave up points on consecutive errors as the Giants took command. Back-to-back aces by Taylor DeWitt nearly sealed the deal at 23-18. A kill by Jolie Dudley and another Lee Ladies’ error gave Waynesboro the 2-0 lead.

Waynesboro slowed down Scott in the second game as the Lee senior only had three kills.

“[Kendra] is always good when she’s bringing the ball down,” Lee coach Ruth Shaia said.

After peeling off some of the floor paint in Game 1, Scott was more tentative in Game 2 and more sets went to Victoria Williams and Hanna Truxell as Lee tried to spread out its net game.

Down 2-0, Scott got back into the action in the third game with three kills in a seven-point span. A hard shot to the back row pushed the Lee lead to five, 20-15.

But it was a floater off the fist of Katie Doyle that broke the back of the Little Giants, pushing the Lee lead to 21-17 and the visitors grabbed Game 3, 25-18 with back-to-back kills by Williams.

“When things are going well, we’re great,” Waynesboro coach Lori Aleshire said. “But when things go bad, we go back to cruise control. That’s when we lose focus.”

Aleshire took control of the huddle between contests and the Little Giants broke out to a 10-2 lead in Game 4 and never looked back.

With Dudley at the service line, Lee’s Sarah Slaughter dove after a Binda kill and left the game. The Lee Ladies were never the same after that as Dudley reeled off nine more service points. Binda had two more kills in the rally and Dudley drilled two aces as Waynesboro finished off the Lee season with the 25-8 win.

“We’ll have to step it up more than we did tonight [to beat Draft],” Aleshire said. “We’ll have to make sure we are on all aspects of our game. It’s lose and go home.”

Scott finished with 13 kills and Williams added seven.  Rebecca Britzenhoffe had 12 assists and Christian Durrett added nine service points for Lee.

DeWitt finished with 17 service points — including six aces — and 29 assists. Toya Diggs had 25 digs and Binda added 17.

The contest in Draft is scheduled to start at 6 p.m.