Leesburg, Va. — After falling short in the VHSL Class 4 State quarterfinal last year, the Loudoun County High School volleyball team did not want that to be their fate again this year when they hosted Region 4D runner-up E.C. Glass on November 16 in Leesburg. The Captains came out strong in the first and rallied to take the second, but then fell in the third before reasserting their dominance in the fourth, as they took down the Hilltoppers—25-21, 25-23, 12-25, 25-19—to secure their spot in a state semifinal on November 19.
“I’m really happy, and I’m excited that we get to move on to state semis,” Loudoun County junior libero Isabella DeWan said. “I’m really excited for this win. My team played super well, so I think we’ll continue to do well.”
Glass was the first to strike, as they came out strong behind a pair of aces from junior defensive specialist Lily Joyner (5 digs, 2 aces) and a couple of kills from junior outside hitter Aubri Willis (18 kills, 9 digs, 3 aces) to take the early 5-2 lead.
But an 8-1 Loudoun County run—featuring a couple aces from DeWan (14 digs, 5 aces, 2 assists), along with a few kills dished out by senior setter Clara Jolly (13 assists, 2 digs, 1 ace, 1 kill) followed by back-to-back Loudoun County blocks—forced a Glass timeout at 10-6.
But the Hilltoppers weren’t going away, as they used two big blocks of their own and a kill from sophomore middle hitter Jayden Smith (7 kills, 3 blocks, 1 assist) on an extended rally to tie it up again at 10-10.
From there, the teams went point for point with each other, never giving up more than a 3-point lead. The Captains relied on junior outside hitter Charlotte Arrington (12 kills, 7 digs, 3 aces, 2 blocks, 1 assist) to lead the way with 4 kills down the stretch. Although the Hilltoppers received some late output from sophomore outside hitter Lynley Cannon (5 kills, 5 digs, 1 block), Loudoun County took advantage of a couple late Glass errors to claim the first set, 25-21.
“It’s all heart right now, and I’m so proud of what we’re doing,” Loudoun County senior outside hitter Ana Smithson said. “And I know we don’t always want to wake up on Saturdays, but we do because we wanna be here. We’re a family, so that makes a big difference, too.”
The teams traded small runs to open the second set, but Glass ultimately took the lead behind a couple blocks from junior middle hitter Elizabeth Bauer (9 kills, 4 blocks) and kills from Willis and Smith. The Captains always remained within striking distance, though, and the tides began to turn after a Captain timeout at 15-11 when Arrington recorded a kill and followed it up with an ace.
“We were just trying to regroup and remind the girls where their hitting zones were, where their targets were, and remind them to lock in on defense and just try to communicate,” Loudoun County head coach Sarah Mozeyko said. “The timeout was really just to regroup and refresh and hopefully rely on our serve. Sometimes we don’t keep it long enough, so reminding them to keep our serve and make sure we go straight back to defense right after the serve takes off to prepare for that.”
Smithson (9 kills, 6 digs, 3 aces, 1 block)—the only current player from the 2021 state championship winning team—took to heart what was discussed during the break and then came out firing with three well-placed shots over the span of 6 points.
“I knew we needed to get that set because we would be going downhill if not. We just had to keep our heads together,” Smithson said. “Seeing the open court, I thought, ‘if I hit that shot, we’re back up.’ And then we just kept escalating from there.”
Back-to-back hitting errors from Smith opened the door for Loudoun County to take their first lead of the set and force a late Glass timeout at 22-21. And although the Captains committed a couple errors out of the timeout, a strong focus on serve-receive and defense from DeWan enabled sophomore middle hitter Sydney Miller (4 kills, 1 block) to finish the set with a pair of consecutive kills to give Loudoun County the 25-23 edge.
“I talked with Ana [Smithson] and Charlotte [Arrington] and tried my best to read the serve. We were communicating a lot, so that really helped when we were in serve-receive,” DeWan said. “For me it’s always, go, go, go. The ball just doesn’t touch the floor. So I try to get around our blockers’ hands to see the best place to dig, and then I just go.”
With Loudoun County up 2-0, the Hilltoppers knew they needed to step it up to keep the match and their season alive. There were a few ties to open the third set, but then a 7-0 Glass run—powered by contributions from Willis and Bauer—secured the permanent lead.
The Captains struggled to build momentum and had low output on offense. Willis, on the other hand, took control of the set, recording a set-high 7 kills and 3 aces. The Hilltoppers’ only senior—setter Ava Grace Mayberry (34 assists, 5 digs, 2 aces, 1 kill)—made her presence known by connecting with several different hitters and recording an ace as well. In the end, the Glass offense was too much for the Captains, and the Hilltoppers took the third set, 25-12.
“I think it was really just a mental decline from our performance. We were kind of just going through the motions instead of putting our absolute best foot forward,” Mozeyko said. “E.C. Glass was still alive and well and still fighting and still wanting to get this game from us. We took our foot off the gas for a little bit and needed to clean things up and not make so many unforced errors and also not rely on them to make the mistakes. We needed to earn our own points, and we had stopped doing that in the third set, compared to the first and second.”
Loudoun County cleaned things up, and both teams came out firing in the fourth, as they traded kills and the lead through four ties early in the set. Glass was led offensively and defensively by Willis, who had 4 kills and 4 digs in the set. The Captains relied on pressure behind the service line, recording 6 of their 14 aces in the fourth set.
“We noticed that they had two passers in serve-receive for two or three out of the six rotations,” Mozeyko said. “So at that point, we were just trying to hit the seams as hard as possible, and we stopped serving to the libero to get them in an out-of-system offense. So we had a lot of court to work with when they only passed two like that. Some of my girls served short and we were trying to hit that ten-foot line because it was wide open because they were stacked in the back.”
Loudoun County also took advantage of some Glass errors, including 7 service errors in the fourth set. Behind the consistent arm of Arrington (3 third-set kills), the scrappy defense of DeWan (set-high 6 digs), and the leadership of Smithson (back-to-back aces), the Captains gradually built a lead that they would not relinquish en route to a 25-19 victory.
“A big leadership example that I’m following is [2021 VHSL Class 4A State Player of the Year] Sarah Jordan,” Smithson said. “I learned a lot from her my freshman year, like what she did for our team, so I want to bring that kind of leadership for these girls.”
Another factor for Loudoun County was the support of the fans. Several former players were in attendance, and the Captains rode the energy of the home crowd.
“Tonight, we saw in the stands: Delaney Brosan (2022), Hannah Prendergast (2020). We saw alumni in the stands cheering us on all the way through, and they’re state champions, so they want the title back just as much as we do,” Mozeyko said. “Our coaching staff—coach Rachel, coach Rebecca, our freshman coaches—are alumni, so we all just want it to come back to County. Even if it’s just for one year and then we try to get it again in a couple years. We just want it back at County to keep our name strong and the magic of it all alive. It was great to see alumni here that have won it in the past and are still tracking us through social media. It’s great to see them return.”
With the win, Loudoun County advances to a VHSL Class 4 State semifinal, where they will host Region 4B champion Courtland, a 3-0 winner over Smithfield in another quarterfinal, on November 19 in Leesburg.
“I’m so excited. All the energy brought from all the families and students, but also each other, it’s gonna create a great atmosphere for us,” Smithson said. “It’s so fun to be able to host again. It’s really exciting.”
“I think everyone is really ready, and I think everybody wants to win,” DeWan said. “The drive is there, so I’m really excited, especially being with this team and these girls. I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else. I just really hope we make it to the finals.”