Vim and vigor didn’t add up to victory Wednesday afternoon for Virginia Intermont in the quarterfinals of the Appalachian Athletic Conference volleyball tournament.
After two disastrous showings against Montreat during the regular season, the No. 6 seeded Cobras shook off a slow start to push the No. 3 Cavaliers to four games, but couldn’t nab their first AAC tournament win since 2006 as Montreat secured a 25-13, 17-25, 25-20, 25-22 victory to end VI’s season.
“I’m really glad that we went out fighting,” said VI junior Brandi Blessing, a former George Wythe High School standout who led the Cobras with 13 kills and added 14 digs after being named first team All-AAC earlier in the day. “Even though we did lose, I’m glad we took them to four games and never quit.”
The Cobras certainly gave a better showing than they did just last week when they closed out the regular season by suffering a sweep at the hands of Montreat, a setback that included a disheartening 25-6 tally in the final game.
But Montreat coach Christine Mooberry said she didn’t count on another cakewalk against the Cobras even though her team also swept VI in early October.
“We were kind of surprised actually by our match [last week] at their place,” Mooberry said. “This was more of what we actually expected of them.”
VI, however, didn’t exactly come out strong Wednesday, falling behind 14-4 in Game 1 as Montreat cruised to a 1-0 advantage with the help of a flurry of VI errors.
“That’s our biggest battle is ourselves,” said VI coach Lauren Kinser.
But instead of slumping to another sweep, the Cobras got right back in the match, grabbing a 4-1 lead in Game 2 that they wouldn’t relinquish.
The Cobras then got out to a 8-6 lead in Game 3, but a five-point serving run by Jacqui Specogna followed by a six-point streak at the service line by Natalie Nieman gave Montreat a 19-10 advantage that proved too much for VI to overcome.
VI again fell behind in the middle of Game 4 thanks to another long run at the service line by Nieman, but clawed back to within 23-21 and 24-22 before Hannah Scholz powered a kill off the net tape for Montreat to end the match.
Scholz finished with nine kills, while Sydney Koon (12 kills), Alyssa Kaufman (nine kills) and Lauren Owen (eight kills) also played well at the net for Montreat (22-13), which is looking to rebound after losing in the 2010 AAC tournament semifinals as the No. 1 seed.
Montreat will take on No. 2 Byran in an 11 a.m. match today as the tournament moves to a double-elimination format and continues through Friday at the MeadowView Conference Resort & Convention Center.
In addition to another strong performance from Blessing, VI got 10 kills Wednesday from freshman Taylor DuFault and nine kills from sophomore Shelby Conner. Setter Tori Starnes, a Sullivan Central graduate and VI’s lone senior, finished with 18 assists in her final collegiate match.
VI (10-22) finished two victories shy of last year’s 12-win season, but played two fewer overall matches than in 2010 and upped its AAC record to 6-10 from last year’s 4-10 showing.
While Starnes will be a significant loss, Kinser said she still likes the direction of her program with the rest of the roster set to return in 2012.
“We get pretty much everybody back next year and it’s just a matter of getting that confidence,” said Kinser, whose team was 6-5 in the AAC in mid-October before the schedule stiffened and a five-match conference losing streak ensued prior to tournament play.
Blessing agreed that the Cobras only need to conquer the mental side of the game to continue moving up the AAC standings – and maybe next year finally notch that elusive tournament win.
“We make ourselves lose because of our errors,” she said. “It’s just all in our heads. Next year I think will be a lot better with confidence.”
nhubbard@bristolnews.com | Twitter: @Hubbard_BHCSprt | (276) 645-2543
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