Leesburg, Va. — In a high-stakes contest that would establish the front-runner for the Catoctin District early in the season, the volleyball teams from Loudoun County and Woodgrove High School brought their heavy hitters on September 18 in Leesburg. Although not reflected in the final 3-0 outcome, both teams put up a tough fight for every point, and many exciting rallies gave way to several momentum swings before the conclusion of each set. But in the end, it was the Captains who prevailed, capturing a well-earned 25-20, 25-22, 25-21 victory.
“It’s a good feeling right now,” Loudoun County head coach Sarah Mozeyko said. “I’m sure the girls are excited to get this win.”
Right from the start, both teams battled for the upper hand, but it was the Captains who got the early edge and jumped out to a 9-6 lead. But Woodgrove responded with a 5-0 run to put them ahead at 11-9. Not to be outdone by their opponent, the Captains then went on their own 5-0 run to reclaim the lead at 14-11. After a few Wolverine errors extended the Loudoun County lead to 17-13, Woodgrove used a timeout to regroup.
Down the stretch, the defensive efforts from both sides of the net were on display as three different Captains and one Wolverine garnered four digs apiece in the set.
“Picking up whatever scraps come off the block is something we’ve been working on lately to keep the play continuing,” Mozeyko said.
While Loudoun County maintained a small lead the entire time, Woodgrove always remained within striking distance, especially when senior outside hitter Cameron Krebs (4 kills, 5 digs, 2 assists, 1 ace) recorded her third kill of the set to narrow the gap at 22-20.
But back-to-back kills from Loudoun County junior outside hitter Charlotte Arrington (17 kills, 7 digs, 1 block) and an ace from junior libero Isabella DeWan (7 assists, 8 digs, 1 ace) put the game away as the Captains took the first set 25-20.
Matched pretty evenly across most stat lines in the first set, ultimately what made the difference for Loudoun County was taking advantage of the Woodgrove errors and minimizing their own.
“We tried to keep our unforced errors to a minimum,” Mozeyko said. “We didn’t sit in serve-receive for too, too long.”
Although the Captains had the momentum to close the first set, the Wolverines shifted it to their side in the second, establishing a quick 8-3 lead behind three kills apiece from senior outside hitter Jackie Colucci (7 kills, 6 digs, 4 aces) and senior right side hitter Ella Meedel (4 kills, 1 dig), all dished out by senior setter Reese Allen (14 assists, 2 kills, 6 digs). Loudoun County responded with a pair of kills from senior outside hitter Ana Smithson (7 kills, 6 digs, 2 aces) as the powerful pin hitters from either team went to work. But a couple of consecutive Captain errors put the Wolverines up 12-6 and forced Loudoun County to burn a timeout.
“With the heavy hitters on the outside, I definitely had to put [junior right side hitter]Jo Seekford with her glorious height up against them,” Mozeyko said. “I also put [sophomore right side hitter]Kayla Luther up against them, and she just serves as a really good, aggressive presence on that pin as well.”
Out of the timeout, Luther (2 kills, 3 digs, 2 blocks) recorded a big block, and a couple points later Seekford (4 kills, 2 blocks) added another. Loudoun County then went on a 10-3 run to give the Captains their first lead of the set since the opening point. The Captains out-blocked the Wolverines 5-0 in the second set, quieting some of the heavy arms.
“The girls were very coachable today,” Mozeyko said. “We were getting tooled on the block a lot in the first set, so we had to tell our pin blockers to come all the way around and face inward to the court so the block would land inbounds versus out of bounds. They started to do that in the second and third sets. They were able to station the pin and lock in and shut it down.”
What ensued next was an all-out battle as six ties and four lead changes shifted the momentum on almost every point. Just when it looked as though Woodgrove was going to tie the match—after using a 4-0 run to go up 22-19—the Captains maintained their composure with Smithson behind the line and won the next six points to turn the tides and take the second set, 25-22.
“We just had to keep our heads to the ground and stay focused,” Mozeyko said.
In what appeared to be almost a reverse of the second set, Loudoun County jumped out to the 8-3 lead in the third set. The Wolverines tried to claw their way out of the early hole, as junior middle hitter Coco Mercker recorded three of her four kills and one of her two blocks. Two Colucci aces on either side of a Captain timeout brought the Wolverines within one at 16-15, but Arrington had other plans. Scoring nine of her game-high 17 kills in the third set—and four in the last six points of the match—Arrington put the game out of reach for Woodgrove and ended the third set 25-21.
“It’s great having Charlotte back in the program,” Mozeyko said of Arrington, who did not play high school volleyball last season. “Today, we put her on the outside, and she was able to move that libero around, stay outside of her midline, and in the third set, she even started hitting other spots on the court. She’s definitely gotten smarter. All the girls are excited to have her back, and it’s been great to have another spark on the court.”
After winning in five against Heritage the previous night and taking down Stone Bridge 3-0 the night before, the busy week for the Wolverines (0-1, 5-2) will continue when they travel to the Dominion tournament on September 21. The Captains (1-0, 7-1) will be back in action on September 23 at Independence after back-to-back-to-back sweeps this week against Loudoun Valley, Potomac Falls, and now Woodgrove.
“It’s great to get started on the right foot,” Mozeyko said. “But there’s more teams to come that want to challenge us even more. We have to see Woodgrove again at their place, so that’s going to be a tough game.”