BY ADAM HIMMELSBACH
The Riverbend volleyball team entered its match against Massaponax last night with a record that misrepresented its talent.
The Bears were 0-3, but those three losses had come to perhaps the three most storied volleyball programs in this area. Riverbend fell to Chancellor in five games, Courtland in four and Colonial Forge in three. And even though the final results were not what the Bears hoped for, the learning experiences were just what they needed.
And last night, as confident and calm as a winless team can be, Riverbend rolled to a 26-24, 25-23 25-21 victory against the Panthers.
"Our losses were to some very good teams," said Riverbend's first-year coach Paul Ehrich. "They really helped us get ready for this."
Cindy Ehrich led the Bears with 15 digs, eight kills and five aces. Allison Tkac had 22 assists, four kills and five digs, and Morgan Rasmussen added 10 digs and five kills.
The Bears showed two qualities that are all but essential on successful teams: They overcame adversity when they trailed, and maintained their composure when their opponent surged.
In the first game, Massaponax led 24-20 and had four chances to close the win. But Riverbend clawed back behind the serves of Terry Lewis. With the score tied at 24, Lewis' serve clipped the top of the net and landed for an ace. The Bears won the next point as well as the game, 26-24.
"We started off kind of slow, but we were more aggressive toward the end," Tkac said. "We knew after we scored a couple of points we were gonna win the game. We had confidence in ourselves."
In the second game, Riverbend cruised to an 18-10 lead and seemed like it would gather an easy victory to make up for the previous difficult one. But this time Massaponax was the team that fought back into contention.
The Panthers scored four consecutive points on Gwyn Stitcher's serve and pulled within 24-23. But Stitcher's next serve zipped into the net, and Riverbend had another win.
"That one was tough for us," Cindy Ehrich said, "because they kept coming back and coming back."
Massaponax standout Brianne Strother injured her back midway through the second game and did not return, but the undermanned Panthers were able to keep the third game competitive.
Riverbend opened an
"Overall they outplayed us and we had too many unforced errors," Massaponax coach Bob Walsh said. "The good thing is that's something we can fix ourselves. I was proud of the effort tonight."
Massaponax (2-2) visits Albemarle tomorrow, and Riverbend will look to avenge its loss to Courtland tonight, when it faces the Cougars.
"Last week was our losing week," Paul Ehrich said. "Hopefully this is our winning week."
Adam Himmelsbach: 540/374-5442
Email: ahimmelsbach@freelancestar.com
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