In head coach Arianna Jacobson’s debut, the River Ridge volleyball team showed calm under pressure and improvement despite a five-set loss to Black Hills in Tumwater Thursday night.
River Ridge, which was swept in 16 of its 18 games a season ago, was on the brink of starting this season with another 3-0 loss, falling 25-21 and 25-12 in the first two sets, respectively. But, the Hawks flipped the script, storming back to win the third set 25-18 and the fourth set 25-19.
The Hawks couldn’t catch up to Black Hills in a tight fifth set and lost 15-11.
“Wild amount of energy,” Jacobson said of her first game. “We had our entire program — JV, C-team and varsity — all cheering loud and bringing all the intensity. We had some huge blocks, kills, digs, aces and overall so much improvement just in one match.”
Senior Kristina Stupina stuffed the stat sheet with 25 assists, five kills, four aces, nine digs and one block. Junior Sophia Quinn added four kills, 24 digs, four aces and two blocks, while junior Aspen Lamar totaled six kills, 23 digs, four aces and a block. Junior newcomer Akela Brooks, who started playing volleyball in February, gave the Hawks a boost with six kills and six blocks.
Next up for River Ridge (0-1) is its home opener against Tenino Tuesday, Sept. 8.
Black Hills (1-0) will host R.A. Long that same night.
