Ashburn, Va. — For two teams who lost significant contributors from last season, the September 16 match between the Briar Woods and Rock Ridge High School volleyball teams seemed to be anyone’s for the taking. But uncharacteristic errors from the Phoenix and a strong defensive effort from the Falcons secured a 25-19, 25-16, 25-18 sweep for Briar Woods.
“We lost seven of our varsity players from last year, so we have a lot of new people coming in,” Briar Woods head coach Joe Riggio said. “So leading up to now we’ve just stressed: keep things simple, focus on our side of the net, try to reduce our errors, let them make the mistakes.”
This strategy seemed to work flawlessly for the Falcons as they established a strong presence midway through the first set. Four kills from senior right side hitter Naomi Grundy (7 kills, 1 block) and solid defense from senior libero Molly Gardner (14 digs) set Briar Woods up for their biggest lead up to that point—17-12—and forced a Rock Ridge timeout.
Although the Phoenix responded immediately with a kill from senior outside hitter Rania Lahbibi (9 kills, 1 ace, 2 digs), the Falcons used a 7-3 run—featuring a couple kills from freshman outside hitter Allie Bowen (6 kills)—to bring them to set point at 24-16. After a few saved set-points from Rock Ridge, Briar Woods ended the first set for the 25-19 win.
“I think one of our strengths is our returners building up the rest of the newcomers on our team,” Briar Woods senior outside hitter Taylor Hansen said. “In our practices over the course of the season, we’ve just done a really good job of coming together as a team and working together with communication.”
Hansen (14 kills, 3 digs) opened up the second set with a pair of kills dished out by junior setter Sierra Smith (30 assists, 2 aces, 3 digs). As both teams fought to establish a lead, two loud kills from Lahbibi tied the set at 8-8 and caused Riggio to use a timeout to compose his team.
“My philosophy has always been: keep things simple,” Riggio said. “It’s passing, serving, and putting the ball away. So in high school, it’s usually about who controls the serve and how well your serve-receive is. At practice, we focus primarily on those two things a lot because that really sets up a lot of our offense.”
The Falcons then took advantage of six Rock Ridge errors to go on an 8-2 run and force a Phoenix timeout at 16-10. Down the stretch, Rock Ridge used contributions from senior middle hitter Anna Koroma (8 kills, 1 ace) and senior outside hitter Lola Aguilar (6 kills, 3 aces, 2 assists, 6 digs) to try to dig their way out of the hole. But it wasn’t enough, as Briar Woods closed out the set on a 5-0 run to take the second 25-16.
“We’ve been working on our connections,” Hansen said. “We want to keep building on what we have and the foundation that we’ve started.”
The Smith-Hansen connection was strong in the third set as Briar Woods jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead behind three kills from Hansen, a kill from Grundy, and an ace from Smith.
“[Smith] took a year off from high school and came back, so she’s been playing catch up. But she’s super athletic,” Riggio said. “We’re still getting her dialed in with her offense, but she’s doing a terrific job.”
As the Phoenix fought to stay in the match behind the heavy arm of Lahbibi, the Falcon defense stepped up their game to extend rallies and keep points alive. Briar Woods senior defensive specialist Eleanor Roed recorded six of her nine digs in the third set, and Gardner pitched in with three of her own.
“We know we’re going to play stronger offensive teams,” Riggio said. “So we’re beefing up our defensive strategies and just making sure we scout the teams ahead of time as best we can, so we are ready for whatever they bring.”
Ultimately, Rock Ridge was not able to overcome the early Falcon lead, as they were plagued by more errors and trailed the entire third set. While Smith made connections with all of her hitters, the one who really brought things home for the Falcons was Hansen. Scoring half of her game-high 14 kills in the third set, Hansen ended the match—25-18—with two big kills set up by Smith.
“She’s a really amazing setter,” Hansen said of Smith. “So it just makes it really easy.”
The Phoenix will look to rebound when they travel to Lightridge on September 17 and host Loudoun Valley on September 19. The Falcons will have a few days to prepare for the start of their district schedule, which will begin on September 19 when they host Riverside.
“It’s still early in the season, so we’re trying different rotations,” Riggio said. “I think we’re just trying to get ready for district play.”