Eastside rallies for win over Rural Retreat
Rural Retreat’s Emery Sage hits the ball Tuesday night against Northwood in the Region 1D championship.
It took Eastside five sets and nearly two hours to win its first-round match in the VHSL Region 1D volleyball tournament.
Of course, earning such hard-fought triumphs is nothing new for the Spartans.
“This little team,” said Eastside coach Brianne Casteel Bailey. “Everybody counted us out at the beginning of the season and these girls have worked so hard for each other and I am so stinkin’ proud of ‘em. They’ve showed grit.”
Perseverance was aplenty on Wednesday as Eastside rallied to record a 17-25, 25-12, 21-25, 25-18, 15-6 victory over the Rural Retreat Indians.
The Spartans (20-5) play defending Region 1D champion Chilhowie at 7:45 p.m. in Thursday’s regional semifinals at Castlewood High School. Patrick Henry tangles with Northwood in the first semifinal showdown at 6 p.m.
Eastside advanced by winning a thriller.
“My heart was racing,” said Eastside senior Heidi Craiger. “It felt unreal and it felt good to come out with a win. A huge relief.”
Eastside had to have some belief after Rural Retreat took two of the first three sets, putting the Spartans on the brink of elimination.
“We made some adjustments defensively and we made a few adjustments with our gameplan and it worked,” Bailey said.
Was Bailey surprised that the Hogoheegee District’s fourth-place team pushed her squad to the limit?
“The Hogo teams are always tough,” Bailey said. “It doesn’t matter if you are playing the fourth seed or the one seed. It’s always going to be a tough challenge so no, they didn’t surprise me. We knew coming in they’d give us a good game.”
Both teams had just two seniors.
One of Eastside’s talented 12th graders – Craiger – had two of her seven kills in the fifth set.
The 5-foot-11 Craiger also had two blocks during the match.
“Heidi has been such a good leader this year,” Bailey said. “She has brought energy to the front line. She is smart and sees the floor. I can’t say enough about her.”
Zoe Sartin (seven kills), Abby Ward (seven kills), Harper Mullins (25 digs, eight kills, five service points), Lexi Nixon (24 assists, 24 digs, 10 kills, 10 service points), Dakota Clay (52 digs, 12 service points) and Katie Williams (16 digs, eight service points) also helped the Spartans survive.
Eastside closed the match with seven straight points.
“We definitely have the chemistry and at the end of the day we are there for each other,” Craiger said. “We just gave it all we had and focused on the good things.”
Is there a sense of urgency for Craiger and Williams, the two seniors for the Spartans?
“There definitely is,” Craiger said.
Emery Sage (21 assists, 19 digs, eight kills, two aces), Alice Martin (14 digs, five kills), Alexa Vineyard (10 digs, eight kills), Addison Umberger (20 digs, five aces), Ada Childress (10 kills), Raelyn Morris (seven digs, five kills) and Hannah Taylor (12 digs) were the stat leaders for Rural Retreat.
Standout Mazzie Fontaine suffered an injury in the second set and didn't return, while Sage was hobbling following the match.
“We’ve had a season of ups and downs,” said Rural Retreat coach Brittany Sage. "I don't think we’ve played a game this year where we haven’t had an injury. We literally ran a different rotation many times, so the girls have learned to flip on a dime, moving around and being put in different positions. They’ve learned to be flexible in difficult situations.”
What was the difference in the decisive set?
“When we are losing players, we weren’t able to get in a consistent routine,” Sage said. “Eastside put up a good fight. Their defense is great.”
Eastside is one win away from its first state tournament berth since 2023 as the young Spartans have overachieved in many respects.
Regardless of what transpires on Thursday, it's been a rewarding season for Bailey seeing her squad improve over the course of the season.
“I’m proud as a peacock,” Bailey said.
