Ashburn, Va. — Entering the October 22 volleyball matchup between Freedom High School and Broad Run High School, the teams had each endured four five-set matches earlier in the season, with both teams going 2-2. With plenty of experience under their belts, the teams buckled in for another one when they met in Ashburn for a non-conference game ahead of the district and region tournaments.
The Spartans came out strong to take the first, but then the Eagles won the next two. Despite a late push to end the match in four, Freedom couldn’t get it done as Broad Run forced a fifth set. A close set all the way to the end was decided behind the service line, as four late aces lifted the Eagles to the 20-25, 25-17, 25-16, 23-25, 15-10 victory.
“I think we just remained resilient, and the kids knew that at the end of the day we were gonna get the right matchup,” Freedom head coach Jimmy Kerwin said. “We had a favorable matchup in that last half [of the fifth set]. So once we got past that tough middle who was putting it on us, I think we had the confidence to know that we were gonna be in good shape.”
The home team came out firing from the start and led for the majority of the first set. Broad Run senior outside hitter Sophie Reinhardt (11 kills, 8 digs, 1 ace) led the way with 4 kills—2 of which came during an 8-1 Spartan run for the 15-8 lead. Service pressure helped Broad Run build their lead as four different players recorded aces during the first set.
Freedom countered with a 6-0 run behind a couple kills from senior middle hitter Morgan Haber (6 kills), but the Eagles would only ever come within 1, as kills from sophomore middle hitter Leila Bataineh (11 kills, 4 aces, 2 digs, 1 block) brought them close a few times.
Broad Run went on a 5-1 run with kills from Reinhardt and senior right side hitter Denaria Jenkins (10 digs, 7 kills, 1 ace, 1 assist) and benefitted from several Freedom errors. The Spartans then continued to side-out and ended the set, 25-20, on a stuff block.
“We tend to make more errors when we try to place balls and put it in a perfect spot,” Kerwin said. “So we just encouraged them to stay aggressive and said, ‘Listen, I’m not taking you out; I’m gonna stick with you. Stay aggressive, and get after this thing’.”
The second set featured 8 ties and 5 lead changes as the teams went back-and-forth to open the set. Reinhardt scored 2 kills right off the bat, and the Broad Run service pressure continued with aces from four different players again in set two.
After the last tie at 14-14, Freedom scored 10 unanswered points to bring the Eagles to set point. The run was highlighted by 3 aces from sophomore outside hitter Irina Padden (16 digs, 12 kills, 8 aces) and back-to-back kills from junior outside hitter Bella Maiwald (9 kills, 5 digs, 1 ace).
Although Broad Run fought off three set points by keeping plays alive and forcing Freedom errors, senior setter Sashmika Veliveli (17 assists, 9 digs, 2 aces) delivered a ball to Haber for a final kill to end the set, 25-17.
“We usually communicate the plays [ahead of time]when we’re in serve-receive and the other team’s about to serve so we know what to do and we can make those plays,” Padden said. “But if the pass doesn’t work with it, then we just call it out [during the play]to try to make the most effective plays.”
There were a handful of ties to start the third set, as Broad Run senior middle hitter Helena Pakiela (7 kills, 3 blocks, 2 aces, 1 dig) and Bataineh traded kills. Broad Run sophomore libero Serena Wong (20 digs, 4 assists, 3 aces) recorded a set-high 8 digs in the third, and senior setter Addyson Lee (23 assists, 8 digs, 2 kills, 1 ace) had a set-high 7 assists to four different hitters.
But another big Freedom push after the tie at 6-6 put the game out of reach for the Spartans. During the 13-2 run, senior right side hitter Ava Winterton (5 kills, 1 dig) got involved in the action with a couple kills dished out by junior libero Daliya Ivarone (17 digs, 5 assists, 3 aces). The defense from Veliveli and senior defensive specialist Maddie Phan (6 digs, 1 ace) picked up as both players contributed 5 digs apiece. Tough serving from Bataineh and Veliveli kept the Spartans off-balance, leading to errors.
“Serving’s been our strong point all year. We don’t have a bunch of six-footers, so we have to be really, really aggressive to try to keep teams out-of-system,” Kerwin said. “We go back there and just sling it, try to find the right matchup. We had a couple matchups that we saw; there were a couple kids that we know through the club scene. So we said, ‘Okay, let’s try to capitalize on that’.”
A 6-1 Freedom run where Ivarone snagged back-to-back aces brought the Eagles to set point at 24-11. However, Broad Run fought back with tough serving from Wong and a kill from sophomore outside hitter Caitlin Sallee (6 kills, 3 digs, 2 aces, 1 assist). After a 5-0 Spartan run, Kerwin called a timeout. This proved effective as the next serve missed, and Freedom won the set, 25-16.
The teams traded points at the onset of the fourth set, but Broad Run began to pull away behind a 7-0 run that included a kill and a block from Pakiela, two Sallee aces, and kills from Lee and Reinhardt. Freedom took a timeout to regroup and then countered with a 5-0 run as sophomore setter Erika Franco (14 assists, 1 dig, 1 kill) connected with Bataineh and Padden for kills, and Maiwald recorded an ace to tie it at 10-10.
“I think sometimes we got stuck, but we were able to come back eventually,” Padden said. “And then we were also able to hit tricky spots when we weren’t able to hit the spot that we felt most comfortable with. So we were just moving the ball around a lot.”
Broad Run gained a slight edge thanks to a Pakiela ace and a Reinhardt kill. But Padden and Bataineh each contributed kills during a 9-3 run, and Ivarone notched an ace to give Freedom their largest lead of the set at 19-16.
An 8-0 Spartan run—during which Broad Run benefitted from a handful of Freedom errors, a pair of consecutive blocks from Pakiela, and a setter dump from Lee—completely erased the Freedom advantage and gave Broad Run set point at 24-19. Although the Eagles fought back behind tough serving and forced the Spartans to use both timeouts during a 4-0 run, Broad Run got the finish just in time at 25-23 on a kill from Lee to Pakiela to extend the match to a fifth and final set.
Neither side led by more than two points through most of the fifth set, as the teams matched each other and the lead teetered. Broad Run got offensive contributions from Jenkins and Sallee, while Freedom relied on all of their hitters.
With the Eagles trailing 9-10, Padden stepped behind the service line and would remain there for the rest of the set. After Padden rattled off two straight aces, the Spartans called a timeout hoping to freeze her.
“I was definitely feeling pressured to score or make a point, but I just kept telling myself to be consistent,” Padden said. “I was aiming for the person I thought was struggling the most.”
The Broad Run timeout didn’t work as intended, as Padden recorded another ace out of the timeout and then scored on a backrow attack on the next play. After a Maiwald kill brought the game to match point, Padden came through again with an ace to end the set 15-10 and the match 3-2.
“I think this game helped us see what we need to work on, as well as things that work really well for us, going into the district games,” Padden said. “So we need to be prepared for anything that they’re gonna do, and then we can adjust to them as well.”
Both teams immediately return to action on October 23 as Broad Run (2-1, 8-10) travels to Loudoun County and Freedom (5-6, 9-11) faces Riverside. The No. 4 Eagles will then begin the Potomac District tournament on October 27 where they will host No. 5 Briar Woods.
“Tomorrow night, we’ll just see what we can do. You never know what can happen. And then we’ll come back on Friday, get a good practice in, and get ourselves ready,” Kerwin said. “We had a successful game plan when we played Briar Woods the first time. We won in three sets. They adjusted the second time, so we’ll have to make a couple more adjustments going back, but I feel good about our chances there.”