The William Byrd girls will continue a busy schedule tonight when they
play host to Roanoke County rival Cave Spring in volleyball. It will be the girls’
sixth match in the first 10 days of the season.
After opening with a loss at Cave Spring on August 27 the girls picked up
their first win last Thursday against another county rival, Glenvar. This was a
thriller that went five sets before the outcome was decided.
Byrd got off to a slow start at Glenvar, losing the first two sets to the
Highlanders, 25-19 and 25-23. The Terriers bounced back to win the third set, 25-
14, but they trailed 20-17 in the fourth and were on the brink of defeat. However,
at that point they rallied to take eight of the next 10 points for a 25-22 win to tie
the match. With momentum on their side, the girls then won the fifth and deciding
set to 15 by a 15-9 score to win the match.
Bella Dudley had a big night with 18 kills and a couple blocks. Raelyn
Lancaster had 10 kills, two aces and three blocks against Glenvar while Heidi
Dixon had 10 kills and a pair of aces. Maggie Zimmerman dished out 38 assists
and Maggie and Heidi had 10 digs each.
On Saturday the Terriers played host to a tri-match in Vinton with Salem
and Magna Vista. Salem ended up on the winning side against both Byrd and
Magna Vista to remain unbeaten on the young season.
Byrd’s first match was with Magna Vista and the Terriers dropped a three-
setter, 25-19, 25-17 and 25-22. Dudley had six kills and Dixon had five. Graysen
Divers added four kills and Zimmerman had 19 assists.
In the final match of the day the Terriers took on Salem and fell in three,
25-19, 25-11 and 25-18. Dudley and Dixon had six kills each and Ava Ashworth
led the defense with 16 digs while serving up two aces. Maggie Peters had 13
digs.
“The Terriers battled hard all day but came up short,” said coach Allison
Thornton.
On Tuesday of this week the girls took another county rival as they played
host to Hidden Valley, the 2023 Class 3 state champs. The Titans have another
strong team but Byrd was able to push them to four close sets before falling 25-
19, 23-25, 25-18 and 25-22. Dudley had 14 kills against the Titans while Dixon
had nine to go with 13 digs. Zimmerman had 27 assists and a couple kills.
Now 1-4, the Terriers are off for a week after tonight’s home match with
Cave Spring. They’ll return to the court with a match at Hidden Valley a week
from tonight.
