Leesburg, Va. — With a new coach this season and several young players on their roster, the Stone Bridge High School volleyball team has goals that go deeper than just wins and losses. The focus this year is on developing players and rebuilding the program to its former glory. After dropping their first match of the season to Broad Run the previous week, the Bulldogs used the next ten days to prepare for their September 4 matchup against Tuscarora High School, and the effort paid off as they earned their first victory in a 25-15, 25-17, 25-23 sweep of the Huskies in Leesburg.
“We’re focusing on building the young players,” Stone Bridge head coach Nadezhda Shulga said. “We have a bunch of freshmen in the whole program, even on varsity we have a few freshmen, and basically our goal is to develop the whole program and step by step get better and better every game. I am really happy about this win, but we still have a lot of work, so I want them to progress every single day.”
Although the Bulldogs had a slow start to the match as the Huskies took advantage of some early errors, senior right side hitter Emma O’Hair (5 kills, 4 aces, 1 block) got them on track with a kill and a block to bring the score to 7-5. Tuscarora responded with a 7-2 run featuring back-to-back kills from freshman middle hitter Isabella Jeantel (6 kills, 3 digs, 2 blocks) to take the 12-9 lead.
Stone Bridge, however, came storming back with freshman outside hitter Makenna Stocks (4 kills, 2 aces, 2 digs, 1 block) behind the service line recording a pair of consecutive aces in an 8-1 run to reclaim the lead. Junior middle hitter Kelly Roberts (6 kills, 1 block) also contributed a kill and a block during the stretch.
Although the Huskies sided-out after a timeout in an attempt to slow the Bulldog momentum, O’Hair stepped up again with a couple kills and a pair of aces on either side of Tuscarora’s second timeout. Stone Bridge ended the set on another 8-1 run to claim the first set, 25-15.
“I always tell the girls, ‘We don’t care who is on the other side of the net,’ because we have our own goals. We are focusing on development, and we set our goals for every single game,” Shulga said. “So for example, do line shots or hit short cross or have only two missed serves per set. And if we meet our goals toward the end of the set or in the match, we are happy because it is a positive if we achieve the goals we set.”
The Huskies jumped out to the early lead again in the second set as junior setter Olivia Laird (13 assists, 5 digs, 1 ace) found junior outside hitter Soleil Lofton (3 kills, 2 digs, 1 ace), junior right side hitter Makayla Wright (3 kills, 1 dig, 1 ace), and Jeantel for kills. But the Bulldogs once again responded, this time with junior outside hitter Amanda Bond (5 kills, 2 digs) recording back-to-back kills dished out by freshman setter Feven Getachew (14 assists, 3 digs).
“This team did not have setters last year, so the outside hitters set. This season, it was my decision to take two freshmen setters and go with them and raise them up through the program,” Shulga said. “We have a lot of help from previous players. We have a bunch of people on the bench who are helping me out as volunteer coaches who all played for Stone Bridge when they won states in 2015 and 2021, and they bring to the program a lot of energy and a lot of excitement. They are specifically helping out the setters. In one month, it has made such a big difference. Even two weeks or a week ago, the setters have been getting better every single day, so I’m really happy with that.”
Following a 6-6 tie, Stone Bridge went on an 11-3 run to give them the lead that they wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the set. The Bulldogs took advantage of several Husky service errors, hitting errors, and miscommunications during the stretch and forced Tuscarora to burn both timeouts. Although Stone Bridge committed a few errors themselves to give the Huskies hope, Bond came through again with a pair of kills in the final stretch to secure the 25-17 set-two victory.
More rallies took place in the third set as both teams picked up their defense. Senior libero Charissa Mattison (8 digs, 3 aces, 1 kill) led the way for the Bulldogs, and senior libero Kaitlynn Scott (7 digs, 1 assist) anchored the Huskies. Although Tuscarora senior right side hitter Vivian Bogusz (3 kills, 1 dig) came alive with all of her kills early in the third set, Stone Bridge maintained the lead after ties at 3-3 and 4-4.
Steady contributions from senior middle hitter Izzy Moore (4 kills, 1 block, 1 ace), Stocks, and Roberts helped the Bulldogs gain a 16-9 advantage, but errors allowed the Huskies to get back in it and tie the set at 19-19 after a Jeantel block.
Shulga called a timeout to give her team an opportunity to reset. Big kills from Moore and Roberts gave Stone Bridge the 22-19 edge, but Laird found a couple different hitters for kills and rattled off an ace in a 4-0 Tuscarora run to erase the Bulldog lead. With the match on the line, Stocks and Roberts came in clutch with kills on the final points to seal the 25-23 win and prevent the match from being extended.
Tuscarora (0-0, 0-2) will have a couple opportunities to get a mark in the win column next week when they travel to John Champe on September 9 and Briar Woods on September 11. Stone Bridge (0-0, 1-1) will be back in action on the same nights when they travel to Loudoun County and host Freedom for their first Potomac District match.
“I develop players in club, so I’m doing the same with this team. We will be going step by step with freshmen, with JV, with varsity, with the whole team because we have freshmen on all teams,” Shulga said. “We are focused on developing a strong program, and we will be happy if we achieve our goals. Maybe it’s not going to be a win, but, for example, if we get a certain amount of line shots from outside, I am so happy about that because it means we got better. So if we do that this year, we will be fine. It will take time, and step by step I hope we will get there.”
Derrick Jerry & Jace Lucas captured 150+ photos at the game!