Purcellville, Va. — The start of a new fall sports season brings about much excitement and anticipation for what’s to come as teams are given the opportunity to see how the preparation in the offseason and over the summer has paid off.
For the volleyball teams from Woodgrove and Loudoun Valley High Schools, the regular season opener on August 26 was a chance to set the tone for the season with a big crosstown rivalry game.
While the Vikings came out strong to take the first set 25-22, the Wolverines bounced back to take the next three sets—25-20, 25-22, 25-14—and the match, 3-1.
Both teams fought to gain an advantage in the early stages of the first set, but it was Loudoun Valley who pulled away midway through the set thanks to big plays from junior middle hitter Payton Mandichak (12 kills, 2 blocks). Following a Woodgrove timeout, the Vikings added a few more points to extend their lead to the largest margin of the match at 18-12. However, the Wolverines would not back down that easily, as they slowly chipped away at the Viking lead until Loudoun Valley was forced to call a timeout at 21-19. While both teams battled to the end, kills by Mandichak and senior outside hitter Julia Helm (10 kills) put the game away for the Vikings, as they came out on top, 25-22.
After falling short in the first set, Woodgrove jumped out to an early lead in the second, causing Loudoun Valley to burn a timeout early. Senior outside hitter Jackie Colucci came alive in the second set, scoring 8 of her game-high 19 kills. Once they had established the lead, the Wolverines never let up and led by as many as 9 at one point.
Loudoun Valley stayed in the game thanks to timely kills by Mandichak and sophomore outside hitter Olivia Cypcar (8 kills, 3 blocks) and all-around hustle plays by senior setter Bailey Doherty (32 assists, 1 ace). The Vikings cut the Wolverine lead to 3, but ultimately it wasn’t enough to overcome the dominance established by Colucci, as Woodgrove won the second set 25-20.
While the second set featured many kills to end rallies, the third set saw errors and fatigue coming into play, as both teams battled through long rallies and six ties during the middle stretch. The Wolverines started to pull ahead as senior setter Reese Allen (18 assists, 2 aces) and junior setter Morgan Sher (19 assists) distributed the ball and got all of their hitters involved in the action. While the Vikings were always within striking distance—never trailing by more than 4 and at one point narrowing the gap to 21-20—Woodgrove used a 4-2 run featuring two big Colucci kills to end the third set, 25-22.
With the match on the line, Loudoun Valley knew they needed to step up their game in the fourth set. The Vikings used a few big kills from Mandichak and capitalized on a couple Wolverine errors to jump out to an early 8-5 lead. However, Woodgrove senior outside hitter Cameron Krebs had other plans in mind, scoring 6 of her 11 kills and both of her aces in the fourth set. Krebs had three kills in the span of four points to completely shift the momentum and give the Wolverines the lead that they would ride to the end. Woodgrove used several scoring runs in the fourth set and a big ace by Krebs on match point to earn the victory, 25-14.
If this match was any indication for how the rest of the season will go, fans are in for a real treat. Loudoun Valley came out strong and confident with a much-improved squad that is hungry for success after a down year last season. They will look to use the energy brought to this match to rebound when they travel to Sherando on August 27. Woodgrove returned several key players from last season and made a statement that they will be a top contender again in the Catoctin District, with hopes of returning to the region tournament. The Wolverines get no rest before they are back in action at Lightridge on August 27, as they will look to add to their win column early against non-district opponents.