The Recorder on October 09, 2025
Sarah Liller slams a fierce spike past Craig County defenders, with her teammates looking on in support. (Recorder photo by David Cockerham)
STAUNTON — Thirty-six girls strong, Highland volleyball is on the right path.
The 18 combined wins between the varsity, junior varsity and middle school teams is nice, but perhaps more important is the off-season work and the dedication being put in by both the Ram student-athletes and coaches in growing the program.
Monday in Staunton, the Highland varsity team scored its seventh victory of the season, straight-setting VSDB, 25-17, 25-10, 25-15.
Colleen Adams had 10 assists, five digs and four aces for the winners, Kylie Arbogast knocked down five kills, Emma Brower added four kills, Sarah Liller had six aces and Brooklyn Bussard added four aces.
The victory snapped a three-match losing streak from late last week.
The Rams lost a home match to Craig County on Thursday, 25-3, 25-19, 25-21, and were swept in a Friday doubleheader at Narrows, 25-9, 25-10, and 25-8, 25-12.
At Narrows, Bussard had 21 digs to go with seven assists, Adams had 14 digs and three kills, Ali Veasey had 17 digs and Virginia Richardson added 12 digs.
Against Craig County, the Rams shook off a tough first set and played the visiting Rockets hard in the final two.
“The first set we were playing a different rotation than what we normally play, I don’t know if that had a huge factor in it,” said HHS coach Beth McGuire. “I think once we got down we kind of got in our heads. But once we started playing the way we know how to play, it definitely showed on the court.”
Mackenzie Lucas had six aces in a 17-point, first-set serving run for Craig.
But a pair of Jade Hotz aces and a kill from Brower had Highland in the second set early and a hustle play from Bussard later cut the Rocket lead to 10-7. Hotz’s block had the Rams within four, 23-19, late but a serving error and an Annalese Zimmerman kill finished the set.
Highland led the third 16-12 after a Brower ace and when Adams put together back-to-back kills the set was tied at 20.
Zimmerman and Emily Smith, who had seven kills each for Craig, put away the match with big swings down the stretch.
The Rams were crippled by 18 serving errors in the match, but had 43 “pass-set-hit” combinations, a season-high.
Adams led HHS with 13 digs, six kills, six assists and two aces, Veasey added 12 digs, Richardson had 10 digs, Bussard had six assists, both Anna Meehan and Brower had three kills and Hotz served three aces.
The Highland jayvees started Thursday with a 25-22, 25-20 victory over the Rockets.
Brooke Williams led the Rams with eight aces, six digs and four kills, Adelaide Baxter had six digs and five kills and Amelia Good added five digs and three kills.
Other leaders included Hensley Neil with nine digs, Makynley Smith with six assists and Eleanor White with five aces.
The Rams’ varsity team is 7-7 after a Tuesday loss at Bath County (see separate story), the jayvees are 5-3 and the middle school team finished the season with a 6-6 record.
What percentage of the girls at the school are on the volleyball team?
“Most of them,” McGuire said. “We’re definitely growing our program. It helps going to camps and playing more than just during the season. We did a lot of good stuff over the summer that’s helping.”