Rams celebrate senior night in the best way possible

Published 9:52 pm Monday, October 9, 2023

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The Valley Rams hosted Booker T. Washington and LaFayette for a tri-match on senior night. In the end, Valley gave its seniors the best possible send-off, winning both of the matches on the night. 

Seniors Nevaeh Crane, Jada Russell and Kasandra Gonzalez were celebrated on Monday night. 

The three seniors have meant so much to the program and head coach Madyson Messer. 

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“I love these seniors,” Messer said. “They’ve been with me since I started with the program here. They’ve just basically gone through all the way with me. It’s been a joy to watch them play over the last few years.”

Valley and LaFayette faced off for the first of the three matches. The Rams won in three sets. It went 25-11, 25-23 and 15-5, with LaFayette winning the second set. 

The second set was an absolute dogfight. There were six lead changes in the late stages of the set. 

Crane took over in the final set. Crane finished with five aces in the set. 

LaFayette faced Booker T. Washington for the second match. The Bulldogs got their third win on the season, beating the Eagles in three sets. 

The Bulldogs won 25-20, 25-27 and 15-11.

The Rams faced off with Booker T. Washington for the third match and took the win in straight sets 25-20 and 25-14. 

The Rams fell behind early in the first set before Makaila Adams started becoming a force at the net. Adams finished with two aces, one block and one kill. 

Valley completely dominated the final set thanks to Crane and Gracie Carpenter. Crane finished the set with four aces and one kill. Carpenter finished the set with three kills and one ace. 

The matches on Monday were as important as any regular season match can get in volleyball. It was Valley’s last chance to build momentum leading into the area tournament on Oct. 19. 

Now, the Rams can get some rest before they look to make a playoff push. 

“It feels really good to get a couple of wins tonight, I’m going to be honest with you,” Messer said. “We’ve been lacking that here lately. Hopefully, that will give us some good momentum to go into area.”