VALDOSTA –– Though the Winnersville Classic football game is merely two weeks away, Valdosta and Lowndes took their rivalry to the volleyball court on Thursday night.

Valdosta girls volleyball took down Lowndes in four sets, 3-1.

“We showed a lot of heart and a lot of hard work,” Valdosta coach Anna McCall said of the effort. “We had a game plan and the girls followed the plan. We decided, ‘This is our house and nobody’s getting a game on us in our house.”

Adair Rodemaker put on a show for Valdosta, notching six aces, 15 digs and 14 kills in the match and leading the Lady ‘Cats to victory in the decisive fourth game.

McCall spoke glowingly of Rodemaker’s dominant showing that helped slam the door on a Vikettes comeback.

“She’s a strong player and she has really stepped it up this year and become a leader,” McCall said. “As a sophomore, she’s really stepped up and with the help of our senior Lilly Parrish, the two of them are the big leaders on the court and when the leaders are up, the team is up.”

After going ahead two games to none, it appeared Valdosta was going to sweep their crosstown rivals. That is until the Lady ‘Cats suddenly lost all momentum in Game 3.

Valdosta took a 16-12 lead before Lowndes began its rally.

The Vikettes fought back to tie the game at 17 on an ace by senior Shayla Jackson. Lowndes took a brief lead at 18-17 before Jackson’s serve went long to tie the game at 18.

Valdosta faltered down the stretch as it hit a ball into the net then committed back-to-back errors to allow Lowndes to open up a 21-18 lead. The Vikettes turned the game completely from there –– catching fire with a 6-0 run to go up 24-18 on an ace by Jordan Proctor. An error by Lowndes’ Kayla McConnehead halted the run, but the Lady ‘Cats were unable to mount a comeback as the Vikings clinched Set 3, 25-19.

“I would rather them show that heart in the very beginning in the first set, but I was proud of them for at least coming back in the third set and digging deep and deciding they have to play,” Lowndes head coach Laine Craven said. “We’ve just got to get used to starting out that way in the very beginning.”

After falling down two sets to none in relatively short order and trailing by four in the third set, Craven believes her seniors began to lead.

“Our leadership finally showed up,” Craven said when asked what changed in the third set. “Our leaders decided they were going to pick it up and play together and the rest of the team feeds off that leadership.”

The fourth set saw the Vikettes storm out to a 5-1 lead on the Lady ‘Cats before the home team found a way to get off its heels.

Valdosta went down 6-3 before Rodemaker made her mark The sophomore came through with a pair of put-aways –– one an emphatic spike, the other a soft nudge over the outstretched arms of the Lowndes defense that pulled Valdosta within a point 6-5.

Stanashia Wright scored to tie the game at 6 before Lowndes came up with a big block to go ahead 7-6. Rodemaker tied the game at 7 with a spike. On the ensuing point, an error by Lowndes gave Valdosta its first lead of the fourth set at 8-7.

Lowndes would tie twice more, but never led the rest of the way as Valdosta took a 19-15 lead late in the set. Another spike by Rodemaker and an error by the Vikettes put the Lady ‘Cats ahead 24-19. On match point, Shamiya Bethay scored to lock up the victory.

Thursday night was just another page written in the historic rivalry between Valdosta and Lowndes. For McCall, the win was sweet considering her team had to overcome some adversity after building a two-set lead.

“Beating Lowndes is always sweet,” McCall said. “I know it’s not a region game, but it’s like a region game. This could’ve been a region game –– we treat it the same way. We prepared the same way, we worked hard and it’s always tough games (between us). I love it when the house is full and it’s awesome. It’s awesome.”

With the loss, the Vikettes fell to 15-7 this season.

Craven laments the way the team came out at the start against its fiercest rival, but views the loss as a lesson moving forward for her group.

“First of all, in the very beginning, we’ve got to be showing up in the beginning and playing hard from the get-go and just having a desire and a competitive spirit at game time,” Craven said. “We have to execute. For the rest of the season, we’re going to be facing good teams and region play and this was a great time for us to play (Valdosta) to teach us in region play that we have to play from the beginning.”

UP NEXT

Valdosta: Travels to face Region 1-7A rival Tift County on Sept. 17 at 5 p.m.

Lowndes: Travels to play Region 1-6A Lee County on Sept. 17 at 7 p.m.