The Voice of Blythewood & Fairfield County

Bengals look to region play

COLUMBIA – Blythewood volleyball notched its third region win of the season with a 3-0 defeat of Spring Valley on Tuesday. The Bengals took the first game 25-20 before a tight 26-24 second game win. They won game three 25-19 to take the match.

The win follows a 3-1 defeat of region-leading Rock Hill last Thursday, giving them their first region loss of the season. Rock Hill claimed game one by a 25-15 margin. Blythewood took game two 26-24, then followed with 25-14 and 25-15 wins.

Kristen Galloway had a team-high 12 kills in the win. Rhelani Richberg finished with 12 kills. Makalah Ford had nine kills, and Jade Wells tallied eight.

Senior Madalyn Jones had four aces. Senior Taaj Rockman tallied 8 total blocks (1 solo). Bryce Allen, also a senior, had a team-high 15 digs. Kate Kaczynski was credited with 14 digs, and Jones had 13. Kaczynski had a team-high 21 assists; Wells had 14 assists.

Currently, Rock Hill (4-1) remains as the region-leader. Nation Ford (4-1), Clover (2-2), Fort Mill (2-3) and Blythewood (2-3) follow. With only region action left to play, the Bengals will work to fight their way up the region standings. They host Fort Mill tonight for their second meeting of the season. Fort Mill took a 3-2 win in their Sept. 12 game.

Next week, Blythewood will travel to Nation Ford on Tuesday and host Clover on Thursday. Nation Ford defeated Blythewood 3-0 on Sept. 14 and 2-0 in tournament play on Sept. 22. The Bengals lost to Clover 3-0 in their first meeting of the season.