Sunday, November 15, 2009
Glass sweeps aside Cavaliers
varsity.roanoke.com
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MONETA -- Among the great mysteries of life are these:
What happened to Atlantis?
How did they build the pyramids?
Is there life on other planets?
Oh, and this one:
How in the heck did E.C. Glass volleyball players Kim Amerell and Meg Kenny both not make first-team All-Region III?
That question needed a serious answer after the two seniors powered Glass to a 25-21, 25-16, 25-14 rout of Lord Botetourt in the regional championship Saturday night at Staunton River High School.
Amerell, a Pfeiffer signee who made all-region honorable mention, had 12 kills, seven digs and five aces, while Kenny, a second-team choice, supplied 16 kills, eight digs, five aces and two blocks as Glass (25-2) earned a home date Tuesday against Hidden Valley in a Group AA quarterfinal.
"We don't have any players of the year, but we got a big trophy ... and we'll be going to states and we'll be at home Tuesday," Glass coach David Cardwell said.
Lord Botetourt (21-4) defeated Glass in a best-of-three match earlier this season in Daleville, but first-year Cavaliers coach Cheryl Shockley has a fuzzy memory of that early victory.
"We beat them at our tournament in two games," Shockley said. "They were both neck-and-neck games. That's about all I can tell you because I was having a kidney-stone attack. That's what I feel really bad about. I had a scouting report, but when you remember a team you can usually prepare better and practice for them better.
"But how can you really prepare for a team that hits the ball that hard and that well?"
Botetourt trailed just 19-14 in Game 3 before Amerell unloaded a kill and four straight unreturnable serves to reach match. She nearly delivered a fifth-straight ace, but teammate Mary Grace Lemon tipped a weak return over to end the match.
Amerell was unconcerned about individual plaudits after the match.
"I'm not bugged by it at all," the Glass senior said. "I'm just more excited the team got the victory tonight. We thought it was going to be an extremely hard game. We came in wanting revenge."
Glass won the regional title in its first year as a Group AA school. The Hilltoppers tied for the Western Valley District regular-season title last year but were eliminated in the district tournament.
"I would have liked to have been the Western Valley one more year," Cardwell said.
"Four of the girls have been playing together four years. We knew this was our year. We did beat Franklin County twice and PH once.
"I can understand how some of the coaches feel playing against a school twice their size, but that's what we did. We'd get out of the Western and play schools twice our size."
Botetourt will visit Cave Spring for its quarterfinal. The Cavaliers will need to bring some offense. Region III player of the year Macey Tyree was limited to eight kills by a Glass defense led by Rachel Mullen's 22 digs. Katey Hall added five kills.
Shockley said the Cavaliers erased the sting of Saturday's loss to Glass before they left the Staunton River gym.
"During the last timeout I had, I said my peace," Shockley said. "They were smiling. They're ready to go."
