Sterling, Va. — After sweeping their last eight opponents, the Dominion High School volleyball team continued their winning ways in the same fashion on November 7 in Sterling with a 25-20, 25-19, 25-18 win over Woodgrove to move on to the VHSL Region 4C championship match after missing out on the opportunity last year.
“It feels phenomenal. Everything that we’ve worked for since the beginning of the season is showing right now, and we’re able to showcase all that hard work,” Dominion head coach Phuong Tat said. “The girls are doing fantastic; I’m just along for the ride. They did a phenomenal job all year.”
Although the Titans took the match, it was the Wolverines who jumped out to the early lead as senior setter Reese Allen (14 assists, 5 digs, 1 ace) found four different hitters for kills to establish a 10-3 cushion. Woodgrove was crisp to open the set, not committing a single error until they had the 11-7 lead.
But as soon as she stepped onto the court, Dominion senior middle hitter Abby Vasak (13 kills, 1 ace, 1 dig) made her presence known, putting away 4 kills over the span of 10 points and giving the Titans their first lead at 12-11 since the opening point. Riding the momentum built by Vasak and junior outside hitter Amaya Bowles (10 kills, 1 block)—who contributed 2 kills in the stretch—senior outside hitter Alena Smith (11 kills, 4 digs, 2 aces) went on a 9-point service run.
“The focus tonight was, look, this is an elimination game, and it’s hard because when you get here, someone’s story is gonna end,” Tat said. “So the focus was, let that not be us. Let’s continue our journey as much as we can. We know we’ve got seven seniors, and this is their last dance, so we’re gonna try to make it the best last dance we can.”
Woodgrove sophomore libero Anjy Ary (8 digs) responded with a service run of her own, as her team took advantage of a few Dominion errors to retake the lead at 15-14. The Wolverines’ primary offensive weapon was senior outside hitter Jackie Colucci (9 kills, 7 digs), who had a couple late kills in the first set as Woodgrove fought to stay in it.
But another kill from Bowles gave the Titans the lead that they would maintain for the remainder of the set. Dominion sophomore setter Ingrid Smith (33 assists, 6 digs, 3 aces, 2 blocks, 1 kill) found her sister for back-to-back kills before a Woodgrove timeout at 21-18. The teams then traded points before a Vasak kill and an ace from the elder Smith put the set away at 25-20.
“I just try to find the hot hand: who’s feeling the game most, who’s gotten the most kills,” Ingrid Smith said. “I try to see who I’m connecting with best. Connections are a big thing for volleyball and also communication.”
After stealing the momentum in the middle of the first, Dominion never relinquished the lead for the rest of the match, as Ingrid Smith opened the second set with 3 aces and forced a Woodgrove timeout at 7-0. Although the Wolverines went on a 5-2 run behind kills from Colucci and senior right side hitter Ella Meedel (6 kills, 1 block) to force a Titan timeout at 11-6, Vasak responded with another stretch of 4 kills over 8 points to create a 17-9 cushion.
Both teams went on short runs through the stretch, as Woodgrove junior middle hitter Coco Mercker (4 kills, 4 aces, 2 digs, 1 block) got in on the action with 2 kills, and Meedel contributed a couple more kills. Dominion was helped by a pair of kills from Bowles and 2 aces to put the score at 22-14.
It looked as though Dominion would cruise to another set victory, but 3 consecutive aces from Mercker provided some late hope and brought the Wolverines right back in it. After another timeout allowed the Titans to regroup, they finished off the set with a couple kills from Alena Smith and Vasak to take the set, 25-19.
“Abby and Alena are phenomenal. They’re able to create one-on-ones for their teammates,” Tat said. “When Abby gets on a roll, when Alena gets on a roll, it frees up hitters that don’t normally get a lot of attention, and I think that’s what we did tonight. I think at some point Woodgrove started to commit to one of those hitters, and then that freed up other people.”
Another strong start gave the Titans an early 7-1 lead, as Ingrid Smith found three different hitters for kills to open the third set. Vasak remained consistent, contributing another 4 kills in the third, and Alena Smith dominated by recording a set-high 6 kills.
The third set featured more rallies, as both Dominion senior libero Juliet Correll (9 digs, 3 assists) and Woodgrove senior outside hitter Cameron Krebs (9 digs, 3 kills, 2 assists) recorded 6 digs throughout the set. Colucci came through late for Woodgrove with 3 kills to bring the set to its closest margin at 21-18. But the Titans took advantage of a few Wolverine errors, and Ingrid Smith found Vasak for another kill to give Dominion the set and match win at 25-18.
“Ingrid has been phenomenal. She’s got over 500 assists and over 80 aces. I’m super proud of her,” Tat said. “I wish she could have made first-team all-district, but she’s got a lot still to grow, and still a couple years left in her high school career, so I know 100% she’ll be there eventually.”
While Woodgrove’s season ends with the loss, Dominion will move on to the VHSL Region 4C championship match against Loudoun County, a 3-0 winner against Heritage in the other semifinal. The win also gives Dominion a berth to the VHSL Class 4 State tournament.
“This win feels great! We worked really hard to get here, and going to states is what we’ve had our eyes on the whole season, and it feels like all our work paid off,” Ingrid Smith said. “To prepare for next week, we’ll continue working as a team, watching some film, trying to find out the other team’s best hitters and places where they like to hit, working on our own game, and always doing what we do in practice.”
The Titans’ last loss—and only their second loss of the season—was at the hands of the Captains on September 30 in a tough 3-1 defeat. They will now have an opportunity to flip the script when the teams meet again on November 12 in Leesburg.
“I don’t look at it as a revenge game. I do look at it as: it’s been a great rivalry,” Tat said. “We’ve been back-and-forth the last two, three years. There’s moments where we’d win in the regular season, they’d win in the regular season, they’d knock us out, we’d win. So when you look at that, I think it’s just two great stories coming together and two great rivalries trying to battle it out for a fantastic prize.”