THREE AT THE TOP: Draft, Fort, Waynesboro tied for first

STUARTS DRAFT — The Southern Valley got even more interesting on Thursday.

Fort Defiance swept Stuarts Draft 25-19, 25-22, 25-22, potentially forcing a three-way tie for the Southern Valley District championship.

“It was the happiest moment of my life,” said Fort Defiance’s Kayla Pleskonko. “I’m so proud of my team. It is the best we have played ever.”

On Tuesday, Waynesboro beat Fort Defiance in five games to set up the logjam at the top of the standings. Now the Little Giants, Indians and Cougars all have two district losses, but the Cougars have one final district match on Oct. 28 against Rockbridge. If Draft wins Tuesday they will be declared tri-champions with Waynesboro and Fort and the Region III berth that would have been given to the regular season champ will be awarded during the district tournament — no team would have a guaranteed spot entering the tournament.

If Draft loses to Rockbridge, Fort and Waynesboro will play in a playoff match for the Region III berth and the Southern Valley championship.

“It just makes the road a little bit harder, but we made it harder for ourselves,” said Fort coach Lynn Alexander. “I like that they have to push to win it. Now they know they have to fight for it.”

After the match, Alexander was ecstatic.

“This is what I have been waiting for them to do all season long,” Alexander said. “This is what we needed to be on Tuesday. They had enough heart and faith in themselves to do it.”

Fort dominated Game 1 jumping to an early 7-1 lead after an Anna Martinez kill. Draft battled back after a series of kills from Kamron Johnson, but still trailed 12-11. The momentum shifted back in Fort’s favor and it cruised to a 25-19 win.

“I knew it would be a close district; whatever team works hardest is going to win,” said Draft coach Kami Meeteer. “Hopefully, the girls will work hard and make things happen.”

Game 2 was a different story, and three Erin Brown aces helped give the Cougars a 7-2 lead. A four-point run put the Indians back in the game, and they tied it at nine. Draft fell behind again and Fort ran away with a 25-22 win.

In the final game, Fort ripped off nine straight points for a 9-0 lead before the Cougars’ Chayla Burkholder hit a kill to stop the bleeding after a timeout.

Fort continued to pull away and took a 23-16 lead after a Jordan Leake attack. The final two points came slowly as Draft worked the court to score six more points. The Cougars gave Fort its 24th point after hitting the ball out.

On the final point of the match, Johnson went up for the kill but only found Pleskonko who scored the block — the gym erupted.

“Senior year, you couldn’t end it any better,” Pleskonko said.

No matter the outcome of Draft’s game against Rockbridge, Alexander knows that the Indians will have to play their way into the Region III tournament, either through a playoff game or in the tournament. Even Rockbridge has a shot at one of the three region bids left up for grabs — R.E. Lee has already been eliminated from postseason play.

If there is a three-way tie, seeding will be determined by a drawing before the Southern Valley tournament.