Catawba Ridge’s Emma Wallen goes for a block during the Copperheads’ match against York earlier this week.
Photo by Rob Upton

The Catawba Ridge Copperheads volleyball team won the Ram Invitational at Hillcrest Saturday knocking off number one seed Pendleton and number two seed Gray Collegiate to win the tournament.

Winning the tournament capped off a busy and productive week for Catawba Ridge. Earlier in the week with a sweep of York, the Copperheads stay undefeated on the volleyball court and have moved to 2-0 on the season in Region 3-4A play.

Catawba Ridge won 25-10, 25-18, 25-14 over the Cougars. The Copperheads controlled the match from the opening serve and never took their foot off the gas.

“I feel like we played well,” said Catawba Ridge head coach Alicia Lisee. “The team showed a lot of maturity and they stayed that way the entire time.”

The Copperheads opened the match with a 6-3 lead and then rattled off five consecutive points to go up 11-3 before a York timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Catawba Ridge extended their lead going up 21-6 before closing the set out. 

York played a competitive second set and kept it close for the most part. Catawba Ridge again started the match strong going up 5-2 before another York timeout. This time after the break, York played better and kept things uncomfortable enough for Catawba Ridge to call a time out leading 14-11. York held strong, but never managed to tie the set as the Copperheads pulled away.

Deflated from losing the two sets, Catawba Ridge showed their strength in the third set going up 11-6 and continued to pull away at 18-10 before a York time out.

Lisee said the confidence the team is showing from a good start on the season will help when they come up against stronger Region 3-4A team such as Indian Land.

“It’s super important to get a good start,” Lisee said. “It makes you feel confident going into the rest of the season.”

Up next for Catawba Ridge in region play is Lancaster Sept. 15 before facing Indian Land in a key region match Sept. 17.

Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep