Sterling, Va. — After dropping the first set, the Dominion High School volleyball team used a balanced offensive attack to take the second and third sets, before holding off a rallying Heritage High School team in the decisive fifth set—21-25, 25-16, 25-16, 18-25, 15-10—opening their Dulles District schedule with a win on September 18 in Sterling. “We’ve been talking to our girls about staying composed through adversity,” Dominion head coach Phuong Tat said. “That’s why we set up our schedule the way we did. We didn’t want any easy wins. All the matches before this one prepared us for tonight.”…
Author: Owen Gotimer
Leesburg, Va. — Entering their Week 4 game unbeaten for just the second time in school history, the Riverside High School football team had their eye on a 4-0 start for the first time since 2018, but the traveling Freedom High School Eagles stood in their way. The Rams didn’t take the lead until the 9-minute mark of the fourth quarter, but once they did, it was all Riverside as they surged past the Eagles, 35-14, on September 14 in Leesburg. “Right now, we’re a second half team who’s good at making adjustments, but we have to get better, especially…
Aldie, Va. — A cool late-summer night, a crosstown rivalry, and six lead changes were just about as much as the nearly 5,000 fans could ask for as the John Champe High School Knights made the less than two mile trip down Braddock Road for their first ever varsity football match up with rival Lightridge High School. The Lightning struck first, but the Knights proved victorious as John Champe overcame some offensive woes and got a 32-yard field goal off the foot of senior kicker Omar Ebadi with 64 seconds to play to outlast Lightridge, 24-22, on August 31 in…
Leesburg, Va. — On just the second day of school, the Tuscarora High School football team was set to host rival Heritage High School under the Friday Night Lights in Leesburg with kickoff slated for 7pm. But Mother Nature had some other plans as the Tuscarora administration pushed the start time back to 7:30pm because of excessive heat. Then during the delay, Mother Nature once again showed up with a torrential thunderstorm that pushed back the start time further, closer to 8pm. Despite the delays and despite the environment of a week one crosstown rivalry showdown, the Huskies persevered and…
Leesburg, Va. — For the Woodgrove High School softball program, playing in a state championship game has become second nature. In the eleven seasons since the school opened, the Wolverines had appeared in eight state championship games, winning it all five times. But 2023 was different. None of the girls on this Woodgrove team had ever played in a state championship game. Their 2020 season was cut short before it even started due to COVID. In 2021, the Wolverines fell in a region semifinal. Then in 2022, Woodgrove lost to Hickory in a VHSL Class 5 State semifinal. So when…
Leesburg, Va. — Every time Nansemond River took the lead, the Independence High School baseball team had a near immediate response. Never trailing for more than a half inning, the Tigers showed their resiliency, overcoming first- and fifth-inning deficits, before rallying in the eighth to trump the Warriors, 6-3, in a VHSL Class 5 State semifinal on June 9 in Leesburg. “We have not played from behind a lot this year; in most of our games, we’ve scored first and kept leads. But we always talk about being able to take a punch,” Independence head coach Joe McDonald said. “This…