Took a little break from football and rode down to the Draft tonight where Riverheads was taking on the Lady Cougars. As you guys may recall, I don't understand volleyball worth a hoot, so don't expect me to dink and kill you with this review, but the one thing that I witnessed that I DID understand was plenty of pure intensity that kept the fans on the edges of their seats for over two hours. It was clear that neither team wanted to lose this match.
The opening set was nip and tuck as most of the night was, and Riverheads prevailed 25-20. The Lady Cougars then said "we can do that," and they took the second set by the same score. Little did we know what was in store!
The third set was agonizing to watch as it went into volleyball's version of overtime. Neither team wanted to give up the match point and fall behind but finally Riverheads pulled it out 31-29 to take a 2-1 lead.
The fourth set was then even more dramatic in its own strange way. The Lady Gladiators appeared ready to blow the Cougars off their own floor as they stormed out to a 19-7 lead and by that time, half the crowd had left the gym.
But suddenly the Cougars caught fire and reeled off an astonishing 13 points in a row to take a 20-19 lead. Riverheads finally stopped the bleeding and tied the set at 20 and again at 21. Once again SD took the lead at 23-21 and at that point, appeared poised to complete the amazing comeback and force a fifth set.
But Riverheads dug in, and scored the next three points to grab a 24-23 lead. With Gladiator fans holding their breath for the match point, SD instead said "nope not happening" and tied the set again at 24, to force a second straight overtime situation.
This one was even more intense than the previous one since the outcome of the match depended on it. Each team had its chances and they pulled out all the stops before the Lady Gladiators finally squeezed out an identical 31-29 win to clinch the match.
So if anyone reads the score and sees that Riverheads won 3 sets to 1, they should not assume it was any kind of runaway, because this one had everything a volleyball fan could ask for. With the win, Riverheads moves to 11-2 on the season, but more importantly stays within striking distance of the district leaders, Wilson and East Rock.
The Cougars JVs won tonight in two straight sets but I was late arriving so I can't tell you too much about it.
The opening set was nip and tuck as most of the night was, and Riverheads prevailed 25-20. The Lady Cougars then said "we can do that," and they took the second set by the same score. Little did we know what was in store!
The third set was agonizing to watch as it went into volleyball's version of overtime. Neither team wanted to give up the match point and fall behind but finally Riverheads pulled it out 31-29 to take a 2-1 lead.
The fourth set was then even more dramatic in its own strange way. The Lady Gladiators appeared ready to blow the Cougars off their own floor as they stormed out to a 19-7 lead and by that time, half the crowd had left the gym.
But suddenly the Cougars caught fire and reeled off an astonishing 13 points in a row to take a 20-19 lead. Riverheads finally stopped the bleeding and tied the set at 20 and again at 21. Once again SD took the lead at 23-21 and at that point, appeared poised to complete the amazing comeback and force a fifth set.
But Riverheads dug in, and scored the next three points to grab a 24-23 lead. With Gladiator fans holding their breath for the match point, SD instead said "nope not happening" and tied the set again at 24, to force a second straight overtime situation.
This one was even more intense than the previous one since the outcome of the match depended on it. Each team had its chances and they pulled out all the stops before the Lady Gladiators finally squeezed out an identical 31-29 win to clinch the match.
So if anyone reads the score and sees that Riverheads won 3 sets to 1, they should not assume it was any kind of runaway, because this one had everything a volleyball fan could ask for. With the win, Riverheads moves to 11-2 on the season, but more importantly stays within striking distance of the district leaders, Wilson and East Rock.
The Cougars JVs won tonight in two straight sets but I was late arriving so I can't tell you too much about it.
