Volleyball: Seven Loudoun Teams to Advance to Regionals

(Nov. 3, 2010) - More than half of Loudoun's high school volleyball teams will head for regional play as seven of the 12 teams have clinched spots in regional tournaments. First, there are district tournament titles to be won with Heritage hosting Loudoun Valley for the AAA Cedar Run crown Thursday and Stone Bridge hosting Langley for the AAA Liberty title.

In other action Thursday, the AA Dulles District will hold semifinals at Loudoun County with the host Raiders facing Freedom and Broad Run playing rival Briar Woods. All four teams will advance to the Region II tournament as will Stone Bridge to the Northern Region tournament and Heritage and Loudoun Valley to the Northwest Region tournament.

Heritage (Cedar Run), Loudoun County (Dulles) and Stone Bridge (Liberty) already won regular-season district titles.

Liberty District Tournament
Stone Bridge improved 21-1 on the season with wins over Marshall Monday in the quarterfinals and over TJ Tuesday night in the semifinals. The Bulldogs now face Langley in the finals at 7 p.m. Thursday in a rematch of a regular-season contest won in five by the Bulldogs last week.

Stone Bridge defeated Thomas Jefferson in three straight sets by scores of 25-23, 25-13, 25-19 with Christine Beckham putting away 16 kills along with four digs, six blocks, six service points and an ace and Amanda Miller notched 33 assists to go with one kill, five blocks, and seven digs.

Also for SB:
Amy Christensen 12 digs, 7 service pts, 2 aces
Ryan Ackermann 7 kills, 4 digs
Vanessa Paige 6 kills, 10 service pts, 1 ace, 5 digs
Haley McClure 1 kill, 2 blocks
Mariah Brantley 14 service pts, 3 aces, 6 digs

On Monday the Bulldogs cruised by Marshall 25-9, 25-7, 25-4.

Leading the Bulldogs
Christine Beckham 5 kills, 1 block, 32 service points, 10 aces, 3 digs
Amanda Miller 18 assists, 4 service pts, 2 aces, 2 blocks, 1 dig
Amy Christensen 8 digs, 12 service pts, 3 aces
Ryan Ackermann 5 kills, 5 digs, 1 block, 5 service pts, 4 aces
Vanessa Paige 3 kills, 1 service pt, 1 dig
Alex Heyn 2 kills, 1 block
Mariah Brantley 1 dig, 4 service pts, 1 ace
Haley McClure 4 kills, 2 blocks

Stone Bridge's only loss on the season was to Loudoun County.

Cedar Run District Tournament
It will be an all-Loudoun finale as Heritage swept Battlefield Tuesday and Loudoun Valley took Stonewall Jackson in four in the semifinals. The Pride will host the Vikes, the AAA defending state champions in the midst of a rebuilding year, at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Heritage is 19-2 on the year with the two losses coming to Fairfax and Stone Bridge.

No. 1 Heritage def. No. 4 Battlefield, 25-7, 25-21, 25-18
No. 2 Loudoun Valley def. No. 3 Stonewall Jackson, 25-12, 25-23, 17-25, 25-19

Dulles District Tournament
Thanks to the expanded Region II tournament format -- 11 teams make the tournament this year including four from the Dulles District instead of the usual two local teams -- both Freedom and Briar Woods have clinched the school's first ever regional volleyball bids.

No. 1 Loudoun County def. No. 8 Woodgrove, 3-0
Loudoun County won its 16th consecutive match Tuesday. The Raiders were led by Sammy Dormio (7 kills, 11 points, 5 aces, 4 digs), Jenna Strange (6 kills, 10 points, 6 digs, 3 aces), Maggie Phillips (5 kills, 1 dig), Georgi Fox (4 kills, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 dig), Taylor Huewe (3 kills, 3 blocks), Katrina Kirby (3 kills, 2 blocks, 1 dig), Rachel Harrison (1 kill), Colleen Bowlds (13 assists, 6 points, 4 digs, 2 aces), Megan Fox (6 assists, 4 points, 3 aces, 2 digs), Jordan Leiter (3 assists, 2 points), Kathleen Horvath (16 points, 6 aces, 4 digs, 1 kill), Gabby Serafin (3 digs, 2 points), Kelsey Anderson (1 dig, 1 point). The Raiders improved their overall record to 20-1 on the season.

No. 2 Broad Run def. No. 7 Tuscarora, 25-20, 25-18, 25-13
Defending tournament champion Broad Run swept to a win at home against the first-year Huskies.
For BR:
Kills:
Emily Sears 16
Jess Feddersen 13
Mallory Brickerd 5
Hannah Waller 2
Amanda Swanson 1
Brenna Sullivan 1
Molly Maloney 1
Digs:
Mallory Brickerd 7
Emily Sears 6
Melissa Miles 6
Jess Feddersen 6
Taylor Austin 5
Brenna Sullivan 3
Michaella Dalusung 2
Blocks:
Mallory Brickerd 2
Hannah Waller 2
Set assists:
Brenna Sullivan 16
Molly Maloney 15

No. 3 Briar Woods def. No. 6 Dominion, 23-25, 25-20, 25-9, 23-25, 15-6
The Falcons had only played one 5-game match all year but had to fight off the Titans upset bit Tuesday.

No. 4 Freedom def. No. 5 Potomac Falls, 25-18, 25-21, 25-22
The Eagles had gone to five twice in the regular-season with the Panthers but Freedom swept to victory at home Tuesday. (More on this match Wednesday night)

For PFalls, senior Kayla Motheral's prep career finished with a great effort as she had 10 kills, 2 blocks, 9 digs, 7 service points
Also for the Panthers:
Eileen Fauteux had 13 assists, 1 kill, 25 digs, 2 aces, 6 service points,
Kayla Carlton had 4 kills, 10 digs, 1 ace, 1 service point
Devan Baxley had 4 kills, 22 digs, 3 aces, 8 service points
Patricia Mook had 4 kills, 1 block, 12 digs,
Megan Gloeckner had 3 digs, 1 ace and 9 service points
Kendall Wise had 4 digs