Volleyball: Loudoun County Breezes Into State Semifinals - Again!

By Jason S. Rufner
Special to VivaLoudoun via Loudoun Tims-Mirror

Leesburg (Nov. 16, 2010) -  Loudoun County High School girls volleyball coach Jenica Matthias and her staff had done their part. They'd turned in their homework on opposing Powhatan prior to their meeting in the Virginia AA quarterfinal and now it was up to the Raider players to do their part, to utilize that scouting to their advantage on the court.

The Raiders did so, slamming past the visiting Powhatan Indians (24-2, runners-up from Region I) in straight sets with scores of 25-13, 25-15 and 25-16.


"We had information on their team, and what was a test was, could we use the information in order to win," Matthias said. "And I think we used the information for what we needed to, and we played our game effectively."

The victory is the 22nd straight for the Raiders (26-1, champions of Region II), and passes them into the state semis Friday Nov. 19 at 6:30 p.m. inside the Siegel Center in downtown Richmond.

The Loudoun County volleyball program is familiar with the Siegel Center's environs. County has made the journey to play in the last four Virginia AA state tournaments, returning with the grand prize the last three times.

Matthias expressed satisfaction at her team's return to Richmond despite inexperienced underclassmen dotting the lineup.

"We had some sophomores and freshmen and new juniors, so we were just trying to use what we had and improve everybody. Right now it's to the point where the kids are playing better and better each time we play," Matthias said.

She added, "Which is kinda scary. Sometimes I can't imagine we're hitting the ball as hard as we're hitting it at times, but [also] our back row is playing fantastic."

Against Powhatan to open the state tourney, County's Jenna Strange dominated in multiple roles. The 6-foot junior collected a match-high 12 kills when she wasn't disrupting Powhatan with a strong serve.

Powhatan stayed close with County, splitting the first 20 points of the opening set. But when Strange got to the service line, the Indians had no answer for the centrally placed hot shots. The Raiders wound up with 17 of the set's last 21 points.

Sets two and three resembled the first, with the Indians holding steady with their hosts before decisive County runs put them into the win column.

Strange finished with five aces. Colleen Bowlds led in that category with six, and paced the Raiders with 20 assists.

The back row combo of Gabby Serafin and Kathleen Horvath teamed for 20 digs. Sammy Dormio was a factor along the net, putting down 10 kills.

Sophomore Taylor Huewe heard County's student section playfully chorus out her surname after each of her seven kills, except for the last one, which clinched the match for the Raiders and ticketed them for a reappearance in Richmond.

"Right now I think that we are still rising to [a peak], which is fantastic because I couldn't have imagined us playing this great," said a smiling Matthias.