Leesburg, Va. — The Loudoun County High School volleyball team is a storied program, having captured 14 VHSL State championships, including winning ten straight state titles from 2012-2021.
Having fallen short of a state championship the last two seasons, the Captains were looking to pave their path to get back on track when they hosted rival Dominion in the VHSL Region 4C championship on November 12 in Leesburg.
The Titans jumped out a commanding 16-2 lead in the first set, but little by little the Captains stole back the momentum and eventually knocked off the Titans—21-25, 25-21, 25-18, 26-24—to claim their first VHSL Region 4C title since 2021.
“It was just a lot of hard work that these girls put in. We’re really excited to bring the region trophy back home,” Loudoun County head coach Sarah Mozeyko said. “I’m really happy with the way the program has come back to where we expect it to be.”
It took the Captains some time to get warmed up, as they struggled early in the first with a slew of hitting errors that forced a Loudoun County timeout. Down 9-2, the Captains were hoping their timeout would be a reset, but the Titans continued to pour it on as they scored the next seven points, including 3 aces by senior libero Juliet Correll (15 digs) and a huge block by junior right side hitter Megan Hiltner (3 kills, 2 blocks, 4 digs).
“This is the playoffs; it’s not the time to have weak mental toughness. That mindset cost us in the district tournament, and we weren’t going to let it cost us again tonight in the region championship,” Mozeyko said. “We learned from our mistakes, made some changes, and came out better than we were before.”
Despite trailing by 14, Loudoun County started to chip away at the lead with a couple kills by sophomore right side hitter Kayla Luther (7 kills, 3 digs, 2 blocks) and a couple aces by junior libero Isabella DeWan (17 digs, 8 assists, 5 aces), forcing a quick Dominion timeout at 16-6.
Coming out of the timeout, the Captains continued to carve into the lead as junior right side hitter Jo Seekford (14 kills, 2 blocks) added a pair of kills to help cap off a 9-2 run as the Dominion lead was cut to 18-11.
Then, trailing 22-12, Loudoun County had the choice: throw in the towel or continue to fight back. The Captains chose the latter as Seekford added two more kills to restart a Loudoun County run.
Following a few Dominion errors, the Titans set up set point after a kill by junior outside hitter Amaya Bowles (7 kills, 2 digs), but the Captains weren’t ready to give in.
A big block then a kill by Loudoun County junior outside hitter Charlotte Arrington (17 kills, 20 digs) brought the score to 24-18. Then a Dominion hitting error followed by a block by Luther forced a Dominion timeout at 24-20.
Having successfully defended four set points, the Captains caught another break after another Dominion hitting error, as they trimmed the lead to just 3.
Even with the 10-2 run, the Captains ran out of time in the first as Bowles put away a kill as the Titans held off the Captains in the first, 25-21.
“We felt the momentum coming,” Seekford said. “We were super excited because we knew how important this game was.”
A lineup change to start the second created a spark for Loudoun County as sophomore right side hitter Brooke LaRue (5 kills) earned 4 of her 5 set kills early in the back-and-forth second frame.
In a set featuring seven ties, the Captains only trailed once at 12-11, using a strong defensive effort to keep the Titans at bay, taking the second set 25-21.
“Isa is our anchor on defense. Wherever she is stationed, everybody else flares out,” Mozeyko said. “With her leadership and confidence out there, being able to let our setters go for digs, then having our libero come in to set, really helped our offense a lot, too.”
With the momentum on their side, the Captains looked to take control in the third. Luther opened the set with an emphatic kill, and Seekford scored on a tip then a block, before DeWan scored on back-to-back aces as Loudoun County took an early 5-3 lead.
Dominion answered back with a kill by senior outside hitter Alena Smith (11 kills, 12 digs) and a block by sophomore setter Ingrid Smith (26 assists, 10 digs, 2 kills, 2 blocks) to tie the match at 5-5.
With their lead erased, the Captains played from behind for the next 23 points as the Titans ballooned their lead to as many as five at 17-12.
Having battled back in the first set, Loudoun County was ready to make another run with their backs against the wall. A pair of aces by senior outside hitter Ana Smithson (7 kills, 14 digs, 2 aces), a pair of blocks by sophomore middle blocker Sydney Miller (3 blocks), and five kills by Arrington highlighted the 13-1 run the Captains used to come back and close the third set, 25-18.
“Dominion is such a great team. They are so strong,” said Mozeyko, who earned her first region title and 50th career win with the victory. “It’s a great program that [Dominion head coach Phuong Tat] has built. He has a solid core group of girls, so we just knew we needed to get back to the basics, back to the fundamentals, and back to the spots that were working for us.”
In a fourth set featuring 16 ties and 4 lead changes, the Captains got back to the basics and leaned heavily on Arrington and Seekford to bring them home as the duo picked up 5 kills apiece in the fourth.
With the latest tie in the set coming at 24-24, Loudoun County wanted to avoid the winner-take-all fifth set and fed back-to-back opportunities to Arrington, who put both kills away as the Captains claimed the region title: 21-25, 25-21, 25-18, 26-24.
As the region champion, Loudoun County (8-0, 21-2) will host Region 4D runner up E. C. Glass in a VHSL Class 4 State quarterfinal on November 16 in Leesburg. Dominion (8-0, 23-3) will travel to Region 4D champion—and back-to-back VHSL Class 4 State champion—James Wood on the same night.
“We’re really excited to get the win,” Seekford said. “Even though we started pretty rough, I’m really proud of how we finished in the end.”