River Ridge head volleyball coach Arianna Jacobson walked away from her team’s Thursday night match against Bellarmine, a 3-1 defeat, impressed with their fight against a tough Lions squad.
The Hawks improved from sets one through three, falling in set one 25-14 before challenging the Lions in a 25-22 set-two loss. River Ridge pounded Bellarmine 25-14 in the third set, but the Lions returned the favor in the fourth set 25-9.
“This is a building season for us. We took energy and heart from the second set and were able to show some of our potential out there and win the third set,” Jacobson said. “We will continue to work on a team-first mentality and continue to be gritty on defense and that front line.”
Senior setter Kristina Stupina led the Hawks with 20 assists, five aces, eight digs, one kill, and a perfect 19 of 19 from the service line. Junior Ny’zriae Collins-Howard recorded a double-double with 10 kills, 10 digs and one ace.
Senior Aspen Lamar added seven digs and four kills with a perfect 7 for 7 on serves. Junior Gabriela Faria also didn’t miss a serve on 10 attempts while contributing 10 digs and two aces. Junior Alexis Hively was 12 for 12 at the service line and landed four aces.
River Ridge (2-3, 1-2 Puget Sound League) will face two tough tests on the road next week, starting Monday, Sept. 21 at Central Kitsap and then Wednesday, Sept. 23 at Gig Harbor.
