Giants roll by Lee

STAUNTON — Waynesboro coach Lori Aleshire said that anyone could win a game at any given time.

Her team almost gave their match away on Tuesday night.

The Little Giants were in control after Game 2 and were on the verge of a sweep at Robert E. Lee, but the Lee Ladies stopped the Giants rally in Game 3. Back on their heels, the Giants came back to win the match in four games 25-15, 25-16, 25-27, 25-20. The Giants improved their Southern Valley District record to 5-2 and Lee fell 0-6 in the district.

“We lost our intensity and started to relax after Game 2,” Aleshire said. “You have to keep pushing and pushing. [Kendra] Scott took out our middle setters and she intimated them. You can’t let them get inside your head.”

The Giants had put together a seven-point run in Game 1. In Game 2, the Giants were ahead 18-12 and Lee came back with six points, but the Little Giants’ Haley Quesenbery added a kill and an ace. After a couple out-of-bound plays and an ace from Kalee Robinson, Waynesboro grabbed the win.

Lee has only won three matches this season. During the pivotal Game 3, they did not play like their record.

Tied at 11-11, the Little Giants started dropping the ball and players were not communicating well. They fouled and went out-of-bounds. Lee pulled in front 15-12. The Giants pushed ahead to knot the game. After back-and-forth play the nail bitter started. Both teams were tied at 24-24, but miscommunication from the Giants led to the ball dropping at mid court. A foul followed and Lee pushed the match to a fourth game.

“After Game 2, the girls said that they were better than that, and they played like it,” said Lee coach Ruth Shaia.

The offense from the Giants built back the momentum. Quesenbery had 16 points with six aces for the Giants.

Taylor DeWitt had 16 assists. Rachel Binda had 11 kills on the night.

Binda said there was a breakdown on the court.

“What happened was that our players were out of position. Nobody knew where they were supposed to be,” Binda said. “We were not communicating that well. We came back to win it, so that was great for us.”

The Giants played a back-and-forth in the Game 4, but a bad serve, an out-of-bound and a foiled block for the home team put the smiles back on the Giants’ faces.

The Little Giants (8-9, 5-2 Southern Valley) will play Broadway at home on Thursday night. R.E. Lee (3-14, 0-6 Southern Valley) will travel to Stuarts Draft.