Purcellville, Va. — After some tough matchups to start the season, the Loudoun Valley High School volleyball team earned a big win in their Dulles District home opener against Heritage High School on September 24. Loudoun Valley overcame three Pride set-points in the first to steal the set 27-25, finished strong in the second 25-15, fell in the third 21-25, and bounced back to dominate the fourth 25-14 to secure the 4-set victory.
“It means everything to get a big district win,” Loudoun Valley head coach Carmel Keilty said. “I have five seniors, most of whom have been with me since they were sophomores, and they really, really want it. But each year they’ve had to regroup with new kids coming up to the varsity team, so that’s been tough. But they fought through it, and they don’t get down on each other, so I’m really impressed with my seniors.”
Both teams came out firing as they traded points to open the match. But after a 12-2 run put Loudoun Valley up 18-10—and forced Heritage to use both timeouts—it seemed as though the Vikings were going to cruise to a quick win. However, the Pride responded with 8 straight points to even the score at 18-18.
Down the stretch both teams fought for the upper hand as big blocks from Loudoun Valley junior middle hitter Payton Mandichak (9 kills, 12 digs, 3 aces, 2 blocks) and senior right side hitter Lauryn Wade (13 kills, 5 digs, 3 blocks) shifted the momentum to the Vikings. But a couple kills from Heritage sophomore middle hitter Shannon Treloar (8 kills, 2 aces, 1 block) kept the Pride in it. A missed Loudoun Valley serve brought Heritage to set-point at 24-22, but the Vikings kept their composure and fended off three set-points before capitalizing on their own to take the first 27-25.
“I just told them to settle down and make the plays you know you can make. Try to get back in it one point at a time, and it worked for us,” Keilty said. “The defense played really well. They’ve come a long way since the beginning of the season with their passes and defensive play.”
Led offensively by senior setter Ava Moll (36 assists, 12 digs, 3 aces) and defensively by senior libero Kenzie Farrey (15 digs, 6 assists, 2 aces), the Vikings took the early lead in the second set. While the Pride remained within striking distance for the first half of the set, Loudoun Valley eventually pulled away, as Mandichak and sophomore outside hitter Olivia Cypcar (9 kills, 3 digs, 1 block) fueled the offense with 4 kills apiece to close out the set on an 11-3 run for the 25-15 victory.
“We’ve had to make [lineup]changes because we’ve had injuries,” Keilty said. “My primary setter has been out for two and a half weeks now, so we adjusted and tried certain things, and we finally found what’s probably going to work for us until she’s back.”
While the lead alternated throughout the third set, the Pride used the performances of Treloar and junior outside hitter Mikayla Zakrzewski (8 kills, 15 digs, 1 ace) to go up 18-14 after a 7-0 run. The Vikings remained hot on their tails, though, cutting the Heritage lead to one a couple times. Leading the way for Loudoun Valley in the third was Wade and senior outside hitter Julia Helm (9 kills, 3 aces), who each had four kills on the set. But the Pride took advantage of a few Loudoun Valley errors and a pair of aces from senior right side hitter Kasey Holland to win 25-21 and force a fourth set.
“The philosophy tonight was to make smart plays and try to read the court more and see where the block was coming from,” Keilty said. “These girls are really working hard, they’re listening, they’re just really trying. And they want to win. They just keep plugging away and that’s all I can ask. They’re hard workers.”
After dropping the third set, Loudoun Valley wasted no time rebounding as they established an early lead and never looked back. Wade and Mandichak came up big for the Vikings with a combination of kills, aces, and blocks to put the game out of reach. While the Pride fought back defensively behind the game-high 17 digs from junior libero Emily Kolas and strong defensive play from Zakrzewski, they didn’t have the offensive answer to stop the Vikings.
“It seemed like there was always a different kid that was stepping up when we needed them to,” Keilty said. “It wasn’t just one player. So that was really nice to see tonight: that all the kids, all the hitters contributed.”
With Moll running the Vikings’ offense, they didn’t seem to miss a beat, as she found all of her hitters for contributions throughout the match. After a 9-0 run put Loudoun Valley up 16-4, the only remaining push from the Pride came when Treloar got a big kill and followed it up with a couple aces to narrow the Vikings lead to 18-12. But Loudoun Valley finished the set on a 7-2 run featuring back-to-back aces from Mandichak to win 25-14.
“I’m proud of them,” Keilty said. “I think all the kids really did what they needed to do to produce to put a win on the board. And even the kids on the bench, being in it and cheering for their teammates; it’s so important.”
Loudoun Valley (1-1, 2-8) will look to continue this momentum when they travel to Broad Run on September 26. Heritage (0-2, 5-7)—who also has a couple key contributors currently sidelined with injuries—will look to replicate some of the success they experienced earlier in the season when they travel to Tuscarora on the same night.
“Volleyball in Loudoun County is just so good,” Keilty said. “Every night, you go out and everybody is competitive.”