Leesburg, Va. — With the series tied at 1-1 – and both teams sitting at 11-1 in the Dulles District – Leesburg rivals Heritage and Loudoun County met at neutral Tuscarora High School on October 27 to decide the regular season Dulles District champion. After winning a pair of competitive sets to start the match, the Lady Raiders dominated the third set to run away with the regular season title (25-21, 25-20, 25-13), earning a first round bye in the Dulles District tournament and an automatic berth to the VHSL Region 4C tournament in the process.
“It’s a rivalry based in respect. You don’t build rivalries with teams you can put away every time,” Loudoun County head coach John Senchak said. “They’re a great challenge, they have great athletes and they’re a solid team. Their defense is absolutely relentless. The pipeline of volleyball talent in Leesburg is strong.”
[adrotate banner=”14″]The evenly matched first set favored Loudoun County early. The Lady Raiders jumped out a 4-0 start, but the Pride started to chip away point by point. Down 20-16, Heritage took a timeout before rallying off five of the next six points to even things out at 21-21.
Having led the entire first set, Loudoun County senior hitters Megan Bukala and Ashley Rubino charged their team to win the much-important first set, 25-21.
“Volleyball is a game that constantly resets itself. We won the first set the last time we played them, and it didn’t end well for us,” Senchak said. “You want the momentum, because you don’t want to climb uphill all night, but after the first set is over, the score is 0-0, and you have to start all over again.”
Needing a win to even out the score, Heritage took an early lead in the second set, forcing Senchak to take a time out. Trailing 13-9, Loudoun County regrouped, again turning to Bukala who led a 5-0 run out of the timeout. Then, after a Heritage timeout, the Lady Raiders went on an 10-4 run to extend their lead to 24-17. Despite the deficit, the Pride continued to fight, running off three straight points, but the late surge was too little, too late.
With a 2-0 lead, Loudoun County brought a new energy to the third set where the Lady Raiders jumped out a 7-0 lead. And in the third set, the Pride had no answer as Loudoun County cruised to a 25-13 win.
In claiming the regular season title, Loudoun County (23-1, 11-1) earned the No. 1 seed in the Dulles District tournament, a bye in the first round of the same tournament and an automatic berth to the VHSL Region 4C tournament. Meanwhile, Heritage (16-5, 11-1) hosts Park View (6-14, 0-12) in a Dulles District quarterfinal on October 29 in Leesburg.
“I’m really looking forward to one of the lower seeds surprising somebody. That would be wonderful,” Senchak said. “There are some strong teams in the district. Loudoun Valley is tough every time we play them. I don’t want to see Laird [Johnson] or his girls again.”
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