Volleyball: Gators Go 3-3 at Porter-Gaud Invitational

River Bluff got off to a blazing start in this weekend's Porter-Gaud Volleyball Invitational, going 3-0 in their first three games. In fact, the Gators only dropped 1 set in those first 3 matches.

In a close match to get the tourney started, River Bluff took down tournament host Porter-Gaud 25-21, 27-25. Caroline Tucker led the way for the Gators with 9 kills and 4 aces.

Next, River Bluff defeated Hilton Head Island 25-20, 25-18 on Peyton Capps' 9 kills and Alexis Jodie's 18 assists and 5 digs.

To start off Saturday's action, River Bluff added its third win of the tournament with a 24-26, 27-25, 17-15 close victory over James Island. Peyton Capps had 15 kills and Karis Kettering added 13, Caroline Tucker scored 5 aces and 5 digs, and Alexis Jodie had 6 digs and an amazing 33 assists in the win.

Then, fortune changed for River Bluff, and the Gators found themselves on the wrong sides of some incredibly tight matches. The first loss of the tournament came to perennial power Wando 26-24, 25-23, despite kills by Tucker (9), Kettering (7), and Capps (6), and 21 assists by Alexis Jodie.

The Gators then traded sets with St. Joseph's Catholic, losing the first 25-23, and winning the second 25-22, only to fall in the third 15-12. Tucker (14) and Kettering (12) led in kills. Allie Johnson had 15 digs, and Kettering added 13. Jodie recorded 29 assists.

In its final match, River Bluff started off with a 26-14 first-set win over Philip Simmons. The Iron Horses took the next two, however, 27-25, 15-10. Kettering (11) and Capps (10) led the Gators in kills. Tucker had 10 digs, and Jodie earned 28 assists.

River Bluff ended the tournament with 3 wins and 3 losses. Interestingly, the Gators won 8 sets and only lost 7 in their 6 matches, and scored a total of 338 points while giving up 319.

Tucker and Kettering were named to the Porter-Gaud Invitational All-Tournament team.