Riverside adds two more conference wins

By: 
Stephanie Olsen

The Riverside Rebels put up a fight in Burlington on Friday, pushing the Huskies to a five-set match and getting the win.  There were quite a few quick saves and a couple close calls. It was good competition and the Rebels came ready to play.

“The team had a good weekend, earning two more conference wins,” said Coach Cindi Smith. “Friday night’s match against Burlington was a hard-fought match by all. The Lady Rebels worked hard, showing the drive and heart necessary to come out with a win. The girls embraced each other’s strengths and pushed through to the end, these are great qualities that strengthen our team.  Every player contributed to the success of the team.”

Riverside secured three of the sets while Burlington took two.  The final scores were 25-22, 24-26, 25-19, 13-25 and 14-16.  The team was 84.1% for serving, had 48 kills, 43 assists, and 62 digs.  Brinley Longshore led the pack with 100% of her serves clearing the net.  Brooklynn Paxton followed with 95.1% of her serves going over.

Vinaya VanderPloeg led in aces, with five, while Paxton had four. Paxton also accumulated 20 kills for the Rebels, while Varissa Olsen and VanderPloeg contributed 11 each. Kennedy Bassett brought 37 assists to the game, and Paxton and VanderPloeg had 24 and 14 digs, respectively.

 “We pushed to the end instead of giving up,” said team member Kennedy Bassett. “We came together as a team and lifted each other up.”

The Lady Rebels took on the Dubois Lady Rams Saturday in a mid-afternoon matchup. The Rebels overcame the Rams in three sets: 25-20, 25-9, and 25-16.

Riverside’s serving was up that day, with 91.7% going over the net in total. Paxton had 100% of her serves make it over the net to go with three aces, 18 kills and 16 digs.  VanderPloeg had seven aces, 11 kills, and 18 digs. Kennedy Bassett had 32 assists.

“It is our goal to continue to work hard and improve as a unit as tournament season is approaching,” said Smith. “We will also take the opportunity to recognize the positive impact our seniors, Josie Long, and Vinaya VanderPloeg, have had on the program the past four years.”

The regular season winds down to this final week of conference play against Meeteetse on Friday.  It will be Senior Night with the JV game starting at 5 p.m. and the varsity at 6 p.m. with Senior Night activities in between.

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