The site is undergoing maintenance. During this time, certain areas of the site may be unavailable. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Lady Blue Devils Roll in Volleyball Action
Gate City's Haley Reed and Santana Bishop go up in unison for a big block against Sullivan North last week in the non-district sweep.
Jason McCarty
Sports Editor
The Lady Blue Devil volleyball program has been one of the most successful programs in the state over the past 10 years.
Last week, the Lady Devils picked up three big wins and now seem to be clicking on all cylinders.
Gate City continued to dominate the Clinch Mountain District with a 25-22, 25-5, 25-12 victory over the Virginia High Lady Bearcats last Thursday night.
Erica Fugate led the charge at the net with 12 kills, while teammates Santana Bishop and Lindsey Harper added seven kills apiece for the Lady Blue Devils. Setter Kaitlyn Whitt dished out 21 assists. Haley Reed had a record night at the service line with 21 service points out of 25 attempts, including seven aces.
The Lady Blue Devils swept the Sullivan North Lady Raiders last Wednesday night in a 25-16, 25-15, 25-21 victory.
“We handled serve receive well and had a good night on the back row,” said Lady Blue Devil head coach Amy Reed. “Our freshmen and sophomores stepped up and we were able to really run our offense tonight.”
The first two games of Wednesday night’s match were never really close but the Lady Raiders didn’t go away quietly and pushed Gate City in the third.
The two teams battled back-and-forth in the third and North eventually took an 11-8 lead before Reed called a timeout to motivate her players. After numerous ties in the third, the Lady Devils pulled away late for the 25-21 third game victory.
Harper had a good night at the net with nine kills and two blocks, while Fugate totaled eight kills. Sydnee Snapp and Bishop each recorded six kills, while K. Whitt lofted 28 assists.
On the back row, Hayley Wolfe came up with 13 digs, while Mary Whitt and Rosa Smith finished with 10 and six digs respectively.
“When we play good teams, we need for our defense to play out of it and get the ball to our hitters so we can get that ball right back to them. We are doing a much better job of that right now,” added Reed.
Last Monday night, the Lady Devils came up with a huge five-game win over Science Hill as Gate City avenged an earlier loss in the 18-25, 18-25, 25-22, 25-15, 15-11 victory.
Fugate led the way with 19 kills and two blocks, while Harper added eight kills and two blocks. K. Whitt lofted 43 assists and Wolfe finished with 19 digs.
“Science Hill is a good team. They have some leapers on their team and they’re scrappy. They do a good job of getting the ball back to their hitters and that’s what we need to do. And we’re getting better at doing that right now,” Reed said.
The Lady Devil continue Clinch Mountain District play tomorrow night when they travel to John Battle to take on the Lady Trojans.