River Ridge Volleyball 2-0 in Six Rivers West action

By A.J. Gates

PATCH GROVE – With wins over Cassville and Benton last week, coach Dianne Langmeier and her River Ridge Timberwolves are off to a 2-0 start in Six Rivers West conference volleyball action.

The defending conference champions kicked off play in the Six Rivers West last Tuesday night, where they defeated visiting Cassville in three straight sets, 25-14, 26-24 and 25-18.

Putting down a team-high 10 kills for the Timberwolves was senior Shayna Graf, who also had two blocks to go along with a team-high 10 digs.

Junior setter Josey Drone dished out a team-high 14 assists in the win, followed by freshman Mallory Crubel who had six. Both Crubel and Drone also served up two aces each.

Sophomore Ellaina Gage came away with nine digs on the night, while juniors Emily Tesar and Alix Goeke each had four kills.

On the following Thursday night, River Ridge traveled to Benton, where they won the first two sets by scores of 25-22 and 25-18 before taking a loss of 25-15 in the third.

With the Zephyrs looking to take the match into a fifth set, River Ridge put an end to the night with a 25-23 victory in the fourth set to win, 3-1.

In the fourth set, River Ridge held their largest lead of five points late in the contest, but the Zephyrs kept it close with a late rally.

Leading River Ridge at the net with 14 kills was junior Reghan Zinkle, followed closely by Graf with seven. Graf led the team with eight blocks, one more than Zinkle, who also had two service aces in the win.

Drone dished out a team-high 11 assists and had four service ace, while Crubel had nine assists and 15 digs. Defensively, Gage led the Timberwolves with 21 digs.

Following this past Tuesday night’s home match against visiting Potosi, the Timberwolves will travel to Highland Thursday night before competing at the Lancaster Invite in Saturday.