The ovation was louder and longer than any of the three game winning shots. When Abbie White’s name was read over the PA system and she stepped forward during the roster introductions, her teammates and the surrounding Madison County fans gave her a hearty welcome back.
A little over a month ago, White was helicoptered to University of Virginia Hospital after she suffered a horrific head injury during a horse riding accident. For a large portion of the Mountaineers, it was the first time seeing their injured teammate.
“It felt like the team was finally back together,” said Madison senior Samantha Cubbage. “She’s close with a lot of players and having her back helped us in a big way I thought. We didn’t want to lose with her here.”
For White, it was just nice to be back in the gym. And with her injury having a dramatic impact on her memory, getting back to watch her volleyball team from the bench sparked a wave of memories she thought she had lost. Of course, the outpouring of support from the community has caught White off guard as well.
“It was really nice (being at the game) because a lot stuff helped bring back memories and there are a lot things I can’t remember right now,” White said. “The whole thing has been kind of strange though. I’ve been in the newspapers three times. A lot of people I’ve never met come up and talk to me about it. It’s a little weird for me.”
Squaring off against close rival William Monroe with White in her uniform cheering on, Madison County took care of business behind their strong serve, winning 3-0, 25-23, 25-15, 25-23. Outside of the serving, it wasn’t a pretty game as both teams struggled with errors, but in the end it’s the kind of result the Mountaineers were excited about after a long week in which they went five games in a win over Orange and four games in a loss to Page.
“Even though it was 3-0, I can’t say it was a one-sided game,” said Mountaineers coach Lindsey Von Herbulis. “It never felt like it was our game tonight. Our offense was terrible. So were the passing and defense. But (Monroe) had a lot of the same problems we did but we had great serves… It was definitely nice to have an early night after the week we had though.”
Madison jumped out to a comfortable 6-point lead midway through the first game as Monroe struggled with its serve receive. During a 9-point stretch, the Mountaineers were able to win four of six points won on two pairs of aces from Cubbage and Molly Shifflett to build the gap. The Greene Dragons were able to rally back from a 22-16 deficit and make it a game by winning the next six points behind the strong hitting duo of Alex Cave and Katelyn Roach. However, Madison did not fold under the pressure and took three of the next four points to take the 1-0 lead.
The Mountaineers were at their best in game two. Both teams fought back and forth early, but in the middle of the contest and up by three, Madison peeled off a 7-1 run to take a 19-10 lead, again behind its serve but also with the help of Cubbage and setter Jordan Aylor. This time around, they did not relinquish the lead and cruised for a 10-point win.
“We got the first game out of the way and that’s been a problem for us so far this year,” Aylor said. “After we got the second game we knew what we needed to do to pick up the win.”
In the third game, Madison got its toughest test as it saw Monroe enjoy a 3-point advantage for most of the contest. With Roach swinging hard, the Dragons went up 20-15 and looked poised to force a fourth game, but Cubbage, Amber Ronson and Cameron Farmer rose to the occasion to trim it to a 2-point deficit. Then in the home stretch Cubbage put her team out in front picking up three aces over the next four points to put her team ahead 24-22. After an error made it a one-point game again, Shifflett wrapped the evening up on a kill from an Aylor pass.
“We played really well earlier in the week, but tonight, you can’t play like that on serve receive,” said Dragons coach Denise Hoffman. “If you can’t do that then you can’t play volleyball. We’ve got to get our heads on straight. We’ve also got to talk a lot more out there, every single ball.”
For Madison, Cubbage finished with eight kills and six aces. Aylor had 16 assists, four kills and eight digs. Ronson had five aces and nine digs.
Monroe got 16 assists from setter Haley Dodd while Roach and Cave finished with nine kills each.
The Dragons travel to Liberty-Bealton on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. while Madison heads to Orange County also on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
