varsity.roanoke.com

MONETA -- According to Staunton River volleyball coach Rich Northrup, Thursday night was a long time coming for the Golden Eagles.

Staunton River defeated Northside 24-26, 25-20, 25-18, 26-28, 15-13 to win the third-place match in the Blue Ridge District tournament and secure a spot in the Region III playoffs.

And according to Northrup, he can't recall any other volleyball squad that has made the region tournament from Staunton River.

Lord Botetourt and William Byrd will also be in the region tournament after facing off in the championship game. Lord Botetourt (19-3) won 25-22, 25-22, 19-25, 25-21 to claim the district crown.

Also, Botetourt coach Cheryl Shockley was named coach of the year and Macey Tyree was named district player of the year.

Tyree totaled 30 kills and 24 digs for the Cavaliers. Keegan Brads had 46 assists and Leah Poehner had 15 digs.

For William Byrd, Samantha Webster totaled 16 kills and Kayln Molnar added 21 digs.

But the third-place match stole the show and it was all about responses as Staunton River (11-10) got all it could handle from a Northside team that wouldn't give up.

The Golden Eagles responded after the Vikings (6-17) won the first game by taking the next two.

Northside came back from nine points down to steal the fourth game and Staunton River again responded, winning the fifth game to earn the Region III berth.

"Compared to [the semfinal match], they actually moved a little bit," Northrup said. "They talked more. They communicated on the court. I think the fourth game they let down. That was a pretty good comeback."

Staunton River also had to respond after Abby Moran was injured late in the match and had to be carried off the court.

"We knew we had to come into this game hard and we did but we didn't come in hard enough so we knew in the last game, especially after Abby got hurt, that we had to pull it out for Abby and for us and for our seniors and everybody," said Sarah Woodford, who set a school record with 51 assists. "And we did ... it just feels great because we finally played as a team."

Jordan Merrill had 22 kills for Staunton River to beat her previous school record of 17 while Chelsea Eary notched 16 kills and seven blocks and Cori Falls had eight kills and seven digs.

Kathleen Carr had 19 kills for Northside and Kelsey Jarrett had 12.

Ruth Ann Wilbourne handed out 41 assists and Samantha Nguyen notched 37 digs.

Northside coach Amy Crawford was proud of the way her team fought throughout the match.

"They hung in there," she said. "There were a couple times that we really could have just quit playing and they really pulled back and [won] those games."

Now Staunton River, William Byrd (11-11) and Lord Botetourt will set their sights on the region tournament. And though the Golden Eagles have never been there, Merrill thinks they'll be ready.

"Feel pretty good about it," Merrill said.

"We're really excited. We know what we gotta do. We want it bad."