Leesburg, Va. — After only losing a couple starters from last year’s state championship team, the Riverside High School volleyball team has had their sights set on back-to-back titles since the beginning of the season. The Rams got one step closer to reaching that goal when they took down Ocean Lakes High School in a VHSL Class 5 state semifinal match on November 18 in Leesburg. Besides the opening points of the second and third sets, the Rams led the entire match and punched their ticket to the state championship in Petersburg with a dominant 25-17, 25-22, 25-20 sweep of the Dolphins.
“We’re definitely very excited. Last night, we were really prepping: we watched film, studied their plays, and went through all their plays for literally an hour. So we were ready for it,” Riverside senior setter/right side hitter Kenzie Davis said. “Our biggest opponent is ourselves, so in practice we really challenge ourselves so that when we get onto the court, there’s no challenge out there, and I think you could see that tonight.”
After a long rally on the second point of the match, it seemed like a marathon was in store, but the Rams settled in and built a lead behind three kills from Davis (20 assists, 9 kills, 9 digs, 1 ace). Senior outside hitter Nadiya Johnson (13 kills, 8 digs) contributed a couple kills as well to bring the score to 13-8 and force an Ocean Lakes timeout.
The teams went back-and-forth through the middle stretch as Ocean Lakes senior setter Carmela Mendoza (27 assists, 10 digs, 1 ace) connected with senior outside hitter Santina Martcheva (10 kills, 5 digs, 1 ace) and sophomore outside hitter Isabella Smith (5 digs, 4 kills, 1 ace) for a couple kills apiece to bring the Dolphins to their closest margin at 16-13.
But Davis stepped up the defense, and junior libero Camryn Coulther (18 digs, 7 assists, 1 ace) filled in to take the second ball as senior setter/right side hitter Sydney Ray (15 assists, 8 kills, 5 digs, 1 ace) notched a couple kills on a 4-1 run. Riverside senior middle hitter Gabbie Vizek (11 kills, 2 digs, 1 block) then took over, recording kills on four of the last five Riverside points for the 25-17 win.
“I think that this school has always had a lot of good talent, and we’ve always put forth our best talent on the court every time. So it’s a blessing, and I thank God for having us all be together at the right time,” Riverside head coach Reggie Cruz said. “I like that they have a great work ethic. It makes it easy when the girls want it just as much as I do.”
Despite a couple early kills from Martcheva, Davis and Ray assisted each other on a handful of kills to establish the lead in the second set. The Rams then added to their advantage as Coulther served on an 8-0 run during which Davis found four different hitters—including three kills from Vizek—for Riverside’s largest lead of the set at 15-5.
“I was just trying to get the ball over, serve hard, and just fight for it. I told myself, ‘Don’t get stressed out, put it over the net, and you’ll be fine’,” Coulther said. “My team always knows how to keep the ball on the other side, so I was thinking as long as I keep the ball over there when I serve and stay calm, I’ve got it.”
The Dolphins fought to get back in it as Martcheva contributed a couple more kills on a short run. After the teams traded a few points, a big Ocean Lakes block and a Martcheva ace sparked an 11-2 Dolphins run that tied the set 21-21 for the first time since the opening points. Mendoza found junior middle hitter Lyla Shannon (10 kills, 5 digs, 1 assist, 1 block) for three kills during the stretch, senior libero Alexis Broggin (8 digs, 1 ace) picked up the defense to keep rallies alive, and Ocean Lakes benefitted from a handful of Riverside errors.
“We really focused on getting the passes tighter so that we could run the offense, finding the open holes on the court, and reminding ourselves that we all have each others’ backs,” Davis said. “We all try to find a place where we can put the ball, and that’s basically what we did.”
However, the Rams were not shaken. Coulther matched the defense on the home side—recording a set-high eight digs—and Riverside closed out the set on a 4-1 run to take the second, 25-22.
“They’re obviously big hitters, but we have the same exact size, so I focused on reading the ball, getting to the spot, then getting there fast to get it up,” Coulther said. ”The momentum and adrenaline of everyone being hyped and the good feeling of getting a big up, that’s what keeps me going.”
Although a statement block from Shannon on the opening point of the third set made waves, a couple Vizek kills on a 4-0 Riverside run gave the Rams the early lead. Ocean Lakes responded with a 4-1 run to tie it at 5-5 and again at 6-6, but that’s as close as they would come.
From there, the Davis-Johnson connection took over, as Davis assisted on six of Johnson’s set-high seven kills in the third. Coulther—who averaged six digs per set on the night—kept plays alive to give her team more opportunities, and then Davis found Johnson no matter where she was hitting from.
“Nadiya is such a light on the court. I can sense her presence,” Davis said. “So whenever we get a pass and I know that she’s right there behind me, she’s got my back, no matter what the set is, I know she can put it down, so I try to find her. And even if it’s not a great set, she knows how to put it down.”
Although Ocean Lakes staged a late comeback behind a 5-1 run featuring a Shannon kill, a Smith ace, and a Martcheva free ball kill, the Rams closed it out 25-20 to claim the victory and their spot in the state championship match.
“We’ve worked so hard every practice; even the bad practices are okay if we make it to this,” Coulther said. “We’re working so hard, and now that we finally got what we’ve worked for, it’s just such a relief and feels so good to know that we got what we deserved.”
Riverside (12-0, 26-2) will meet with Kellam—a 3-0 winner over Midlothian in the other semifinal—on November 22 at Virginia State University in Petersburg for a rematch of last year’s VHSL Class 5 state championship game.
“It feels good, a little bit of relief, but then now the anxiety is going to go back up because we’ve got to prepare for whoever won today on the other side. They’re both great teams. They’re not okay teams; they’re great teams. We have to prepare ourselves for that in a short time, so that’s going to be a challenge,” Cruz said. “We have to reset our thought process and know that every team has their own way of playing. Then we have to reset and adjust our defense and how we’re going to play against the offense of a team that has beaten this team that we just played three times. Our offense is a strong one already, so we just gotta make sure we focus on our defense.”