Cougars fall in district opener to Demons

By Cody Dalton
sports@southwesttimes.com

CHRISTIANSBURG - It’s easy to say it has been a tough week for the Lady Cougar volleyball team this week. The team was coming off of a 3-0 home loss to Liberty (Bedford) on Monday, but things got even rougher on Wednesday, as the Cougars lost another tough contest to River Ridge District foe Christiansburg, 18-25, 8-25, and 19-25, at home.

“I feel like we played well in some points and then some points in the game we hit a lull,” said Cougars coach Ashley Surber. “When you make one mistake, you can’t let that affect how you play because it is volleyball. You are going to have to make a mistake. You can’t be perfect.”

The Cougars (6-4, 0-1) started out strong in their first game, taking a strong 7-3 lead in the early going. They look impressive and even looked to take the first game. The turning point came with the score 10-6 in favor of Pulaski, as Christiansburg would use kills by Lara Mash and blocks by Emily Quesinberry to take a 14-10 lead.

With the Blue Demons surging, the Lady Cougars failed to regain their composure. Christiansburg’s lead would stretch from four to eight. Pulaski would close to within five points at 21-16 thanks to some Blue Demon mistakes, but it wasn’t enough to catch up and Christiansburg took the first game.

Game two saw the Cougars flatness continue while the Blue Demons continued to play strong. Christiansburg would score three early points to seize the lead and continued to expand that lead throughout the game.

Quesinberry, Emily Davis, and Katelyn Kast all played factors in the game. Quesinberry finished the match with 12 kills and seven digs, Davis had 13 digs and 11 kills, and Kast had four service aces.

“Their best hitters by far were #14 [Davis] and #7 [Kast], their two outside hitters,” Surber said. “Christiansburg is a much improved team from last year. Everyone can see that from the way they are playing ball.”

Heading into the third game, the Cougars showed some early life and looked to put up a fight. The score remained deadlocked through many of the early points, with each team trading blows with one another.

However, Christiansburg would turn a 9-8 lead into a 14-8 lead. The Cougars clawed to within three points towards the end of the game at 19-22, but it would be too much of a deficit to overcome.

“I was really proud of how they came back in that third set,” Surber said. “I really felt like we were going to come back and take that game. It looked like the kids were there and their hearts were in it. They were doing everything they could do, but sometimes even on our home court we can’t seem to get a ball to roll our way.”

The Cougars were led in defeat by senior libero Ashley Burleson, who had 23 digs for the Cougars. Sophomore Becky Pennington had her best game to date with 10 kills, while Maddy Chitwood provided a few key blocks.

Pulaski’s next test will come Thursday, when they travel to William Fleming to take on the Colonels. They were victorious against Fleming earlier this month, when they won 3-1 at home.

9-23-09