The Ripley Lady Viking Volleyball team posted an impressive week pulling in seven wins, retaining “The Net” over archrival Ravenswood, and winning their first MSAC Championship.

On Tuesday, October 28, the AAA #3 Lady Vikings came back from two sets down to keep the coveted “Net” over AA #8 Ravenswood. The Red Devilettes came out strong with 25-22 and 25-19 victories, but Ripley buckled down to win the last three sets 25-11, 25-14, 25-6. Lexy Kessel led the way with 22 kills on 34/37 hitting, and added 6 aces on 24/25 serving. She also led the team with 28 passes with 11 of those passes being digs. Brittani Brooks added 13 kills while Lindsey Layhew and Alannah Sheets chipped in with 10 kills apiece. Layhew and Sheets added 26 and 22 assists, respectively.

Two days later, Corby Stalnaker and his team welcomed two MSAC squads for a triangular match. In the evening opener, Ripley beat Riverside 25-14, 25-11. Kessel was again the leading hitter with 16 kills on 28/28 hitting. Sheets was the setting leader with 15 assists, and Brooks led the defensive effort with 11 digs. In the nightcap, the Vikings breezed through the match over St. Albans with identical 25-5, 25-5 scores. Chasity Raines’s serve led the way with 5 aces. Kessel had the most kills with 6 and also digs with 6. Layhew led in assists with 7.

On Saturday, the Lady Vikings took a #2 seed into the Mountain State Athletic Conference tournament at the Charleston Civic Center. In their pool were #7 Princeton, #10 Woodrow Wilson, and #15 Nitro. They split their first two matches with Princeton (25-15 and 23-25) and Woodrow Wilson (25-20 and 16-25), before topping Nitro (25-11 and 25-12). There was a scare that the Lady Vikings would not make it out of pool play, but when Woodrow Wilson upset Princeton, it assured that Ripley would be making it to the championship tournament.

Ripley found itself ranked number six in a pool of eight teams, which put them in a matchup with number three seed Greenbrier East, which is ranked #4 in Class AAA. Ripley pulled away with a 25-23, 25-21 win to give them their third victory over Greenbrier East this season. In the semi-finals, the Lady Vikings were matched up against Spring Valley, a team that had beaten them just a week before. Spring Valley was seeded number two in the tournament, as well as being ranked #2 in Class AAA. Ripley came out strong and produced a 27-25, 25-23 victory.

The championship match pitted the Lady Vikings against perennial AAA powerhouse and number one seed Parkersburg. In the first set, the Lady Vikings fell 25-20 which put them in a hole. Ripley won the second set 25-18 and then fought hard in game three to pull out a 25-20 victory, giving the Lady Vikings their first MSAC Championship in the 16 team conference. Lexy Kessel was a leader throughout the day coming away with 55 kills and 54 digs, with a 95% passing efficiency. Kessel only missed one serve on the day in 48 attempts (98%). She reached the milestone of 1,000 career kills during the Parkersburg match, an exceptional stat for a junior. Brooks had a stellar performance at the net by adding 43 kills and going 49/54 at the serving line. Sheets had 61 assists with 21 kills and 7 blocks, Layhew had 50 assists with 14 kills and 40/43 serving, Chasity Raines was 44/48 serving with 7 aces and 6 kills, Carisa Ratliff was 29/38 passing with 12 digs, and senior Michelle Sayre had 5 aces, 25 digs, and was 31/38 serving in her last MSAC volleyball tournament.

The Lady Vikings wrap up the regular season with a record of 45-6-3, and will begin postseason play Wednesday at 6:00pm at Parkersburg South for the AAA Region IV Section I Tournament. Ripley will enter the tournament as the number two seed, facing off with the host number three seed Lady Patriots (#8 in class AAA). Number four seed Winfield (#6 in class AAA) will take on number five Nitro in the opening round game, with the winner facing Parkersburg (#5 in class AAA) in the semi-finals. The top two teams will advance to the regional tournament on Saturday at Parkersburg High School with the winner and runner-up from the Huntington, #2 Spring Valley, Cabell Midland, Lincoln County, and Hurricane section

story by Travis Hinkle, contributing writer

Related posts:

1. Vikings fall short against Big Reds, 24-23 [caption id="attachment_544" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Seth Hamrick (#20) breaks free from...
2. Lady Viking spikers win Spikefest Team breaks school record for wins HUNTINGTON -- The Ripley...
3. Vikes can’t top GW, fall 44-18 CHARLESTON -- The Vikings came into the rainy George Washington...
4. Vikings take home 2nd place The Ripley High School volleyball team finished a stellar season...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.