Volley Raiders drop two in Gainesville

Coach Steve Crouse’s Volley Raiders were on the road once again on Thursday night in non-region matches against East Hall and Rabun County. The result was not what Madison County had in mind as they played away from home for the ninth time this season. Rabun County was first on the floor with Madison County and took the Raiders to three sets before picking up the 2-1 win. Rabun jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the opening set but the Raiders rallied back to pull to within one point following three straight serve points by senior Taylor Hallenbeck. Rabun County answered with six straight points to extend the lead following the Raider threat. Late in the set, senior Ariel Jones took her turn at serving and the Raiders aided in giving her support as Jones served five straight times pulling Madison County again to within one point. The Raiders were unable to gain the lead as Rabun County closed the set with a 25-21 win.

In the second set with Rabun County, it was another senior, Paige Criddle, who took the baseline and served 10 consecutive times as the Raiders not only gained the lead for the first time but also pulled ahead to their largest lead of the night at 16-7. The run was made possible by Mya Moss who had an outstanding night at the net in both matches with several key blocked shots and spikes. Criddle later laid down a spike to close the set with the Raiders winning 25-15 to force a third set. Rabun County again jumped out to an early lead this time of 12-4 on the way to the set win 25-11 and the match win 2-1.

The Raiders then faced a tough East Hall team in the final match of the night. It was the host Lady Vikings using an 11-4 run to open the first set in route to a 25-14 win. The second set with East Hall looked to be a runaway for the Vikings early after the host team scored 11 straight points to push out to a comfortable lead 12-6 lead. Madison County then turned things up a notch by rallying back to within three points late to close the margin to 24-21. East Hall closed the set and won the match by dropping in the game winning point to take the 25-21 win and 2-0 match win.

The Raiders will return to action on Tuesday night as they again travel to Gainesville to face Chestatee and Monroe Area in region matches beginning at 5:00.