Thursday’s match wasn’t solely about the rivalry. Both the Royals (17-2-1, 5-1) and East Ridge (16-3, 6-0) entered the match unbeaten in conference play. It was their lone meeting of the season. 

“You could feel the excitement even in last night’s practice,” East Ridge coach Steve Anderson said. “We both knew the conference on the line. It was a great experience for both teams.”

The intensity of the rivalry, however, was on display from opening serve. The tense nature might have hit its crescendo in the opening set. Both teams traded points until East Ridge, ranked No. 4 in Class 3A, eventually pulled ahead and held a 24-20 lead. 

From there, the match took a turn for the wild as Woodbury scored four consecutive points. Eventually the Royals captured the match 28-26.

“That was really exciting,” English said. “To take that first set. It showed a lot of courage in our team.”

Woodbury rode that momentum to an early lead in the second set. It forced Anderson to use a timeout to rally his troops.

“They were on fire there,” Anderson said. “They were everywhere making good defensive plays. We knew if we played our game it would work out.”

Anderson’s hypothesis quickly proved true as the Raptors took the second set. Then, East Ridge cruised in the third set before finishing off the match in the fourth set.

The Raptors turned things around with their hitters. Though the outside hitters such as junior Lauren Glavin and senior Avery Burger loaded up the stat sheet with kills throughout the match, Anderson saw their success come from their teammates.

“Our players did a good job of mixing their shots,” Anderson said. “I give our middle hitters a lot of credit. They had success. That led to some one-on-one matchups on the outside.”

With the regular season winding down, both teams are looking for top spots in the Class 3A, Section 4 tournament.

“Whenever you get to face a rival and a top four team like this, it’s a benefit to everyone,” English said. “We’ve never really been on the radar, but our girls have fought to be in this conversation and play in big matches like this.”