Lady Raiders claim co-ORVC title
SR Volleyball
20 wins are now on the board for South Ripley volleyball. The Lady Raiders cruised to the New Washington Invitational title this past Saturday to wrap up the regular season.
South Ripley volleyball is at 20 wins on the season and has built up some major momentum heading into the postseason this week as the Lady Raiders not only won five matches last week, but also earned itself a share of the Ohio River Valley Conference championship.
The Lady Raiders captured that title with an easy 3-0 win at home against Shawe Memorial on Thursday. That was followed by Saturday’s championship journey inside the New Washington Invitational.
South Ripley won over Shawe (3-13) by straight-set scores of 25-6, 25-3 and 25-10 and the Lady Raiders put up some big-time numbers in the process which included a total of 29 aces served. Claire Samples led that department with eight aces, Avery Andrews had six and Kaidyn Gilpin followed with five. Kaiya Rinear and Kaylie Effing each served four aces.
Gilpin also had 10 kills and one block to go along with a block apiece from Rinear and Samples. Andrews posted a team-high 21 assists and Samples’ night was rounded out by nine digs.
Saturday’s New Washington Invitational saw the Versailles crew defeat the host school by a 2-0 final while also sweeping 2-0 decisions away from Switzerland County and Clarksville. The Lady Raiders also fended off Charlestown 2-1 after taking a 15-11 victory in a decisive third set.
Aubrey Werner totaled 17 kills and 11 blocks for the tournament and Rinear went for 30 kills, 28 digs and 13 blocks. Gilpin followed with 22 kills and 16 digs, Samples had 25 digs, 16 kills and 16 aces served and Andrews tallied 77 assists in the four matches.
South Ripley enters the Class 2A Sectional 45 Tournament at home this week with a 20-11 overall record and 5-1 mark in the ORVC. The Lady Raiders received a bye to the semifinal round on Saturday and will face either Brown County (11-12) or Austin (10-17) at 1 p.m. Championship action that night at 6 p.m. will see the winner take on Switzerland County (5-22) or Southwestern (19-12).
