Ashburn, Va. — As district play gets underway, the stakes become higher for the volleyball teams in Loudoun County. With seeding for the district tournament on the line, every district game is important, and the Independence High School volleyball team capitalized on that when they used a big third-set push to overcome a Stone Bridge lead and complete the sweep—26-24, 25-16, 28-26—on September 26 in Ashburn.
“We drill serve and serve-receive every single day,” Independence head coach Haley Sutton said. “As long as we are attacking the other team in serving and we’re owning serve-receive, we’re gonna come out with a win. So that’s our main focus in a game.”
The Tigers jumped out to an early lead behind four kills from senior right side hitter/setter Jenna Hathaway (14 kills, 17 assists, 5 digs, 2 aces, 1 block) and back-to-back aces from junior middle hitter Madelyn Klees (3 kills, 2 blocks, 2 digs, 2 aces). But a couple kills each from Stone Bridge sophomore middle hitter Kelly Roberts (3 kills, 3 blocks) and senior outside hitter/setter Madylyn O’Neill (7 assists, 6 kills, 6 digs, 1 ace) brought the Bulldogs right back in it.
A battle ensued to end the set, as the teams tied the score at 21, 22, 23, and 24 before Independence was finally able to break away for the 26-24 win.
“We’ve been working a lot on our ball control,” Independence senior outside hitter Makenzie Dvorznak said. “We’ve realized that ball control, serve, and serve-receive is what wins the games. And we see a difference between games where we play really well and games where we play not so well in the serve-receive. So we practice a lot of ball control drills and out-of-system balls, working on our setter defense, which I think is looking a lot better, and also our tip coverage, which is getting there.”
With the momentum on their side, the Tigers opened the second set with two loud kills from sophomore outside hitter Kieran Rhoton (13 kills) and two overpass kills from Klees. The consistent performance of Dvorznak (15 kills, 5 digs, 1 ace, 1 block)—who had five kills in each set—also helped Independence take the early edge.
Behind the defensive effort of junior libero Charissa Mattison (12 digs, 3 assists, 3 aces), the Bulldogs used a few big runs—including a 7-2 run in the middle of the set—to force errors on the other side of the net and even the score at 15-15.
“Something that I say a lot to the team is: focus on us,” Sutton said. “If we are focusing on us and what we need to get better at and how to prepare us, we’re gonna go up against an opponent in a strategic way.”
The Tigers stepped up their game in the back half of the set, minimizing their errors and terminating on offense. A series of kills from Hathaway and Dvorznak led to a 10-1 run to end the set, 25-16.
Although Independence opened the third set on a 6-1 run, Stone Bridge used a few little runs here and there to take their first significant lead of the match at 18-12, after back-to-back Mattison aces forced an Independence timeout. Scrappy defense and hustle plays to keep rallies alive—coupled with the contributions from senior outside hitter/setter Dianna Mancia (10 assists, 8 digs, 2 kills, 2 aces, 1 block)—swung the momentum to the Bulldogs’ side. Junior right side hitter Izzy Moore recorded all three of her kills in the third set to contribute to the Stone Bridge lead.
With their backs against the wall, the Tigers buckled in as junior libero Ella Kliner (14 digs) picked up the defense and junior setter Kyla Fruzzetti (24 assists, 1 ace) created opportunities for her hitters on offense. Hathaway put away three consecutive off-speed shots to open spots on the court, and Dvorznak followed with a couple well-placed hits as well.
“I’m teaching the team a lot about volleyball IQ right now,” Sutton said. “I think that’s a place where they have opportunity to grow: working to mix their shots and knowing when to mix their shots from the other side’s defense. I think they’re really growing their volleyball IQ, which is picking up our offense.”
But the Bulldogs still maintained a 23-17 lead down the stretch, and it looked as though the match was going to be pushed to a fourth set. Independence, however, wasn’t giving up that easily, as kills from Hathaway and Dvorznak—coupled with a few consecutive Stone Bridge errors—forced the Bulldogs to burn both timeouts.
“We realized that we have to focus on our basics and what we can control,” Dvorznak said. “We know that we can get ahead of ourselves sometimes, and think, ‘oh we won the first two sets, we’re good.’ But we had to stay focused and keep a next-point mentality.”
After tying the set at 24-24 with a big kill, Rhoton finished the next couple points for the Tigers to give them the 28-26 come-from-behind win in the third set.
“We’re looking forward to going as far as we can and improving every game on our serve-receive,” Dvorznak said.
Independence (2-1, 8-4) will be put to the test next week when they host top-seeded Riverside on September 30 and travel to Briar Woods on October 1. After a slow start to the season, Stone Bridge (0-3, 3-12) will look to bounce back when they host Potomac Falls and travel to Riverside on the same nights.
“We’re excited to play Riverside and Briar Woods on Monday and Tuesday,” Sutton said. “We have a rest Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, so we’re pushing hard for those two games and trying to seed ourselves first or second to get the bye in the first district tournament game, which I think is totally doable.”