Lady Kavs make school history
Published 12:29 pm Wednesday, November 15, 2017
- Photo by Patricia Mahaney Kenston Forest varsity girls volleyball players receiving accolades included, from left, Indigo Dougherty, Peyton Clary and Katie Suggs. Clary was named VCC Player of the Year.
Kenston Forest School’s varsity girls volleyball team advanced further in the state tournament this year than any of its predecessors in school history, finishing a successful season with an 18-7 overall record.
“I tell you what, it was great, (a) great season,” Lady Kavaliers Head Coach Jannon Coley said. “I couldn’t ask for a better one.”
The No. 9-seeded Lady Kavs upset host No. 8 Tandem Friends School 3-2 in the first round of the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association Division III state tournament Nov. 7, advancing to the next day’s quarterfinals where they fell 3-0 to No. 1 and eventual state champion StoneBridge School.
Against Tandem Friends, Kenstona Forest won the first set 25-17, then lost the second set by the same score and fell in the third set 27-25. The Lady Kavaliers mounted their comeback in the fourth set with a 25-16 win, setting the stage for a thriller fifth and final set that required more come-from-behind heroics.
“We were down 14-10,” Coley said of the fifth set, in which the victorious team needs only 15 points to win, but they must win by two points. “So, they had game point, and we came back and won 18-16. It was an amazing game.”
She noted that helping power the team to victory were seniors Peyton Clary, Katie Suggs, Indigo Dougherty and Josie Epperson.
Clary, Suggs and Dougherty received accolades based on their performances.
Helping her team achieve a runner-up finish in the Virginia Colonial Conference (VCC) tournament, Clary made the VCC All-Tournament team. She also made the the all-conference first team, the VCC All-Academic team and she was named VCC Player of the Year. She helped her team become co-regular season conference champions.
“She had a presence like no other,” Coley said. “And she’s planning on hopefully going and playing at the next level.”
Clary recorded 55 solo blocks for the season.
Suggs made the All-VCC first team, producing 150 kills, and Dougherty made the VCC All-Tournament team and received VCC second team honorable mention. She had 69 digs, 22 aces and 59 serve receptions.
