In our divided, sometimes very angry society today, there are still those moments that are so filled with character that they are too good to let go by being under appreciated and under recognized. One of those moments occurred during the regional semifinal volleyball match between Caldwell County and Henderson County Wednesday night.
Let me set the stage for you. It is the fourth set of the match. Henderson County is up two sets to one and trying to take control in the 4th set. The Caldwell County Lady Tigers are battling, trying to find a way to stay in the match. It is a loud, competitive setting, with the atmosphere almost electric at times. It would be quite easy, and quite understandable, for a moment like this one simply not to happen.
However, that is apparently not in the character of Caldwell County’s Riley Thomas. On the night she was honored as being a member of the 2018 All 2nd Region Volleyball Team, it was a point she lost, rather than one she won, that should get the most attention of all.
Caldwell County is down in the 4th set 9-5. Henderson County goes for a kill, but the ball is sailing long, Riley Thomas reaches for the ball as it sails toward the baseline. The ball lands out of play, with Thomas apparently not touching it on the way out of bounds. Note, I say apparently. The officials award the point to Caldwell County, which would make the score 9-6, and give the Lady Tigers a much needed dose of momentum.
In the noise of the moment, Riley Thomas tells the official she did touch the ball on its way out of bounds, which means the point is reversed and given to Henderson County. She did not have to do it. No one in the stands would have been the wiser, nor would the officials have been. The match could have gone forward, and most would not have known. I sure would not have.
But, Riley would have. She informs the official. The point goes to Henderson County, and the Lady Colonels continue a run that extends the lead to 12-5. While Caldwell County did rally to tie the match, before ultimately falling, you wonder what might have happened if the Henderson run had stopped at that point.
There was a berth in the regional final on the line, with a chance then to play for a trip to the state tournament. But the point belonged to Henderson, and with her character and integrity, Riley Thomas wanted things to be “right.” Again, the call had been made, she did not have to do it, but in her mind
she did have to do the right thing.
In a culture where it is often “do whatever you can to get ahead”, it is more than refreshing to see a young person with the attitude of the right thing is “the thing.”
While Riley was not a part of a winning team on the court Wednesday night, she was a part of a special moment, one that we should all try to exemplify more in our lives each and every day. The volleyball point may have been lost, but the real point was truly made.
