W’boro sweeps ’cats to move on

STUARTS DRAFT — The Waynesboro volleyball team did it.

The Little Giants won their Southern Valley District consolation match by sweeping Rockbridge County on Saturday night 25-20, 25-15 and 25-19.

The Giants secured the No. 3 seed in the Region III tournament and will travel to Jefferson Forest in Lynchburg on Monday night. The game will start at 7 p.m.

But the purple and gold didn’t make it without being bruised.

The Giants lost their match against Fort Defiance in five games at home on Thursday. The Giants gave the Indians fits in the S. Valley when they defeated the Indians in five games and created a logjam in the standings on Oct. 21.

The Little Giants took back control over their own destiny against the Wildcats with solid performances from key players. Taylor DeWitt had 12 points and 14 assists, Rachel Binda contributed 16 kills and senior Norah Curtis had 10 digs on the night.

“We are really excited,” DeWitt said. “We got most of our serves in.”

Giants’ coach Lori Aleshire said that the team was able to reach their first goal. They are ready for the next step.

“It was one of our goals to make it to regions at the beginning of the year,” Aleshire said. “Now we just have to push for more goals, which will be to get through regions to state. The girls have worked hard and proved that they deserve to be where they are.”

Aleshire will be in familiar territory on Monday. She graduated from Jefferson Forest in 1996 and during her senior year, she won the state tournament. If she can return back to Waynesboro with a “W”, it would be an added bonus.

“It will be a sweet victory if we can pull it off,” Aleshire said. “You know, you take one game at time and hopefully the girls will play through it and win.”

But there is not a lot of time to get ready.

“You just have to be ready. This is what we worked for all year. They just have to come out every night and play,” Aleshire said.