Knights stop Lee

STAUNTON — Robert E. Lee wasn’t able to steal a game away from visiting Turner Ashby on Thursday night in a non-district match, falling 25-18, 25-19, 25-21.

Even though the Lee Ladies were swept at the hands of the Knights in three games, they were able to keep each game close till the very end.

The Knights (11-2, 2-0 Massanutten) got a surprise match from Lee (2-7, 0-4 Southern Valley).

“We made some improvements this week and we worked a lot on our defense,” said Lee coach Ruth Shaia. “Our team doesn’t give up and we are going to compete every night no matter who we are playing.”

In Game 1, the Lee Ladies tied things up 8-8 on a kill from Victoria Williams, but TA slowly slipped away taking the game 25-18.

Game 2 was even better for the Lee Ladies after they jumped out 14-12 on the Knights after back-to-back aces from Williams. After a couple of kills from Kendra Scott and an ace from Hanna Truxell, the Lee Ladies held an 18-17 lead, but TA with the help of a couple of aces from Jenny Anne Flory would go on a 8-1 run to close out the game.

“We did a great job of hanging with them early,” Shaia said. “We made a few mistakes late in the game and they were able to take advantage of them.”

In Game 3 the Lee Ladies held a 10-5 lead with the help of three straight kills from Scott. The Knights would comeback though, going on a 7-0 run to take the lead 12-10. After some back and forth play, Lee found itself on top 17-16, but once again the Knights overpowered the Lee Ladies and went on take the victory 25-21.

Shaia was pleased with the way her team feeds off the energy and emotion from Scott.

“Kendra [Scott] was really aggressive tonight and she has been showing that more and more each match,” Shaia said. “Our team feeds off of her energy on the court.”

Scott had nine kills and four blocks for the Lee Ladies. Rebecca Brintzenhofe had eight assists and Carrie Anson added five digs in the loss.

Turner Ashby coach Gina Troyer thought her team lacked energy and came out flat.

“We seemed very flat all night. I think we got caught off guard,” said Troyer. “We have to focus more going forward and pick up our energy.”