varsity.roanoke.com

MONETA -- The annual Thanksgiving Day parade in New York is still a few weeks from now.

Make no mistake though, Tuesday was Macey's day in the Blue Ridge District volleyball tournament.

Macey Tyree was unstoppable as she led Lord Botetourt to a 25-11, 25-9, 25-15 victory over Northside that earned the Cavaliers a berth in Thursday night's championship match at Staunton River High School against William Byrd.

The high-leaping, 5-foot-6 outside hitter displayed her versatility with 17 kills, 12 digs and five aces as Botetourt (18-3) upheld its No. 1 status as the Blue Ridge regular-season champion.

"She does it all," Northside coach Amy Crawford said. "She passes, she hits, she serves. If they wanted her to set, she could do that too."

Tyree also provided the shot of the night late in the third game, a sharply angled kill from beyond the right boundary pole that travelled nearly parallel to the net before dropping less than a foot from the opposite sideline.

"From where I was sitting, when she went up I thought, 'No way,' " Botetourt coach Cheryl Shockley said.

Botetourt, which plays a Region III quarterfinal at home Tuesday night, hit on all cylinders in dispatching Northside (7-15), which had lost both regular-season matches to the Cavaliers by 3-0 and 3-1 scores.

Katey Hall added seven kills and nine digs, while Leah Poehner had eight digs, and Keegan Brads had 32 assists and three aces.

Northside got seven kills from Kathleen Carr, 17 digs from Samantha Nguyen and 14 assists from Ruth Ann Wilbourne.

"We had nothing to lose," Tyree said. "We were all just trying to have fun. We didn't have any pressure."

More will be on the line Thursday against Byrd, a 25-13, 25-17, 25-16 winner over host Staunton River in the other semifinal.

Senior middle hitter Samantha Webster, who sustained torn meniscus in her right knee two years ago during basketball season, was nearly unstoppable up front for the Terriers with 16 kills, eight digs and four blocks in the quick win.

"I don't notice the pain in my knee until afterward," Webster said. "I just try to play through it."

Setters Candace Brady and Nicole Frey set Webster up with varied looks for the Terriers (11-10). Brady finished with nine assists and three kills, while sophomore Macie Hoback had four kills and five blocks, and Ashley Minton had three digs and four aces.

Byrd's last trip to Staunton River two weeks ago resulted in a 3-2 victory. This time it wasn't close as Byrd earned the Blue Ridge's No. 2 seeding in the regional and a home match Monday night against the No. 3 team from the Seminole District.

"Staunton River's a scrappy team and we weren't into it that night," Byrd coach Amanda Stump said. "We didn't do a good job of not playing down to their level. We were ready tonight."

Staunton River coach Rich Northrup could not say the same thing about his team, which was not in school Tuesday because of the statewide elections.

"You just saw our worst match of the year," Northrup said. "Our kids have never played well when they've been out of school. Every time one of my teams has a day off, we're terrible, even going to back to when I was in New York."

Sarah Woodford had nine assists for Staunton River, while Cori Falls had 12 digs.

Staunton River (10-10) and Northside will face each other in the third-place match Thursday. The loser's season will end, while the winner will play Monday at the Southern Valley District runner-up Stuarts Draft.

"If we play the way we did tonight, and Northside plays the way they did tonight, that's going to be one boring match," Northrup said.