PREP VOLLEYBALL: Draft tops Riverheads in 4

GREENVILLE – Stuarts Draft defeated Riverheads in four games on Thursday, though the Gladiators didn’t make it an easy win for the Cougars who won 25-20, 22-25, 25-20, 25-21.

The Gladiators fought the entire way and already had two matches under their belt, but overall the Cougars dominated in their first match of the season.

“Riverheads has a good team,” said Stuarts Draft Coach Kami Meeteer. “In their division they’ll do really well. They gave us a good fight tonight.”

Draft took an early lead in the first game, but soon enough Riverheads came back to tie it at 11 and then 12. After a few long shots and failing passes, the Gladiators lost their touch and the Cougars ran with it, taking a 19-14 lead. Riverheads came up with a quick three points off two Draft errors and an ace from Tiffany Flesher, giving the Gladiators a shot at victory that was short lived. Eventually, kills from Draft’s Jessi Ramsey and Callie Updike finished off the Gladiators.

“We played consistently tonight,” Meeteer said. “We’ve been practicing for a very long time and we’re very level right now.”

Even after the Gladiators took over in Game 2, with numerous blocks from Flesher and Kelsie Floyd helping the way and keeping the Cougar middles at bay, Riverheads couldn’t come up with enough intensity or energy to control the last two games.

“Middle is a tough position to play,” Meeteer said. “I’ve been blessed with having height in the middle for a while.”

The Cougars finished licking their claws clean of the Gladiators in the final two games, though the Gladiators fought until the end.

“We hit well tonight but we can still always work on that,” Meeteer said. “It all just needs to improve, but for our first match we did really well.”

Ariel Christy led the way for Draft with 14 kills, 18 digs and 11 service points and two aces but Erin Brown was right on her tail with 28 digs, 11 service points and three aces.

For the Gladiators, Flesher had nine service points, nine blocks, and six kills and Kelsie Floyd followed with 15 digs, five blocks, five kills and 15 assists.

Draft heads to Harrisonburg on Thursday while Riverheads faces Wilson the same day.