Chatham rides scoring rallies to win over Appomattox

CHATHAM — Several long scoring rallies helped propel Chatham to another Dogwood District win with a 3-0 victory over Appomattox Thursday night. The Cavaliers won by scores of 25-15, 25-18 and 25-18.

Erin Ricketts picked up five of her team-high eight points during a rally in the second set that turned a slim Appomattox lead into a 16-12 Chatham advantage. In each set, the Cavaliers (7-11, 5-4 Dogwood) had scoring rallies of four points or more to build a lead over the Raiders (5-13, 2-6 Dogwood).

“It’s important for us to hustle and win rallies because that once we win a rally like that, it gets us pumped up then we make the next plays and we dominate,” Ricketts said, finishing with 17 assists and six aces.

Chatham’s Shayna Keen had another solid all-around outing, finishing with four points, four aces, seven digs, eight kills and three blocks. Chloe Clarridge added six points and six kills and Julie Motley chipped in with 10 kills.

“It’s a momentum killer when you lose a long rally,” Chatham coach Keith Richardson said. “In that rally, you made some good plays and then for the other team to win, that kills their momentum and I think that helped us out a lot.”

Keen’s final serves were the biggest ones in the third set, as she recorded two of her aces and added a kill in a four-point swing that put the Cavaliers within four points of finishing the match.

“When we’re on a roll, we’re on a roll,” Keen said. “We have some tough streaks when the other team gets their points, but we come back and do good and we’re OK.”

Keen also finished off the first set with three consecutive points after she added three of her kills in the set.

Appomattox’s LaTeesha Christian finished with seven points, including three aces. She had a four-point scoring rally in the second set that put the Raiders up 12-10.