* Blue Devils advance to state volleyball championship match

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Rams give up lead in last two games

Fittingly, the Strasburg and Gate City volleyball teams continued their thrilling postseason rivalry, stretching their state semifinal match nearly as far as it could go this afternoon.

In the third consecutive Group A state tournament matchup between the Rams and Blue Devils at the Siegel Center at Virginia Commonwealth University this afternoon, the match ended in the fifth set when Rams' senior captain Jaclyn Ayers was called on a net violation, giving Gate City a 3-2 (30-28, 15-25, 23-25, 25-22, 16-14) win, and sending the Blue Devils to their third state championship match in as many years.

After pushing Gate City to the brink in an extended first set, Strasburg romped its way through the second set, then rallied back from a 14-6 deficit to take the third set. But the Rams relinquished an 18-13 lead in the fourth set, as well as an 11-8 lead in the final
set, to send seniors Jenna Smoot and Stephanie Conde home without their second-career state championship.

"I thought that overall we played really well, we just needed to close out on the fourth and fifth games, and we didn't do that," Strasburg coach Suzanne Mathias said. "When you're playing as good a team as Gate City, you have to finish, and keep going strong and not have any down time, and I thought we had some down time there."