Volleyball: Stone Bridge Sweeps Into AAA State Semifinals

By Dan Sousa
VivaLoudoun Editor

Ashburn (Nov. 17, 2010) - Four years ago a group of Stone Bridge High School girls volleyball freshmen set their sights on making the state tournament and then proceeded to come tantalizingly close for three straight years, falling one game shy each time of clinching a State bid. This season Stone Bridge finally advanced to the AAA state tournament and the Bulldogs want the full experience as they swept Princess Anne Tuesday to secure a spot in the semifinals Thursday at VCU's Siegel Center in Richmond.

"Since the time we were freshmen we have been talking about going to States," said Christine Beckham, one of five senior starters on the Stone Bridge squad. "We want to keep on going and make it all the way to Saturday."

Saturday is championship Saturday, a day when Loudoun teams have made themselves at home in Richmond with Loudoun County winning three straight AA state titles and Loudoun Valley taking the AAA state title last year. There is no reason that Stone Bridge (27-1) can't become the next local team to raise a state championship banner. First they must get by Atlee on Thursday in the semifinals at VCU at 5 p.m.


"We are just so excited. We have played so well recently," said senior setter Amanda Miller, who has bounced back completely from a devastating ankle injury suffered in the 2009 postseason. "It is like we are on a roll and we can't be stopped."

The Bulldogs are indeed on a roll as their 25-22, 25-20, 25-12 win Tuesday was the team's 23rd straight victory -- their only loss came on Sept. 11 at Loudoun County -- and more impressively Stone Bridge has swept its last four playoff games, not dropping a game since the opening round of the Northern Region tournament on Nov. 8.

The odds were stacked against the Eastern Region runner-up Cavaliers (20-9), who not only had to make the long road trip Tuesday, but were playing without their top player, junior Gaby Smith, who Stone Bridge coach Jill Raschiatore said tore her ACL in Prince Anne's regional title loss to Kellam on Saturday. An emotional Smith, her region's Co-Player of the Year, could be seen, on crutches and in tears, after the loss Tuesday.

Even if Smith had played, the Cavs would have had to found a way to stop the Stone Bridge senior-led group that is hitting on all offensive cylinders with Miller (30 assists) running an attack that is truly multidimensional.

While Beckham is a heady player on the outside with 11 kills Tuesday and a key server (13 pionts, 2 aces) there is the sheer power of sophomore Ryan Ackermann (12 kills) who is often too strong for the block.

"Ryan is quite the hitter. Not only does she get up high but she has great snap on the ball," said Raschiatore.

And if teams find a way to gameplan Beckham and Ackermann, they have to contend with lanky junior Alex Heyn in the middle, who appears to have grown several more inches since the start of the season and towers over the net at 6-foot-4 and counting.

Heyn had three blocks Tuesday while Beckham and Miller each had four and senior Vanessa Paige added two.

On the defensive side, Stone Bridge relies on the calm and collected senior Libero Amy Christensen, who had 16 digs Tuesday.

"It is nice to have the core group of seniors. They have set goals for themselves," said Raschiatore. "As a team we never seem to get rattled, we don't lose focus. They don't have that panic button that some teams have."

It was evident from the first point Tuesday that Smith's absence would play a role for the Cavaliers as a ball fell to the court untouched in confusion on Prince Anne's first attack.

Prince Anne coach Craig Dooren, twice as vocal and active as any coach in the Loudoun area, called an early timeout with his team down, 5-2, and they responded to take a 6-5 lead on an ace by junior Angie Darcus.

Heyn then ended a nice rally with a kill in the middle to start a 3-point run by SB, highlighted by a Beckham bomb that went so far off the block it ended up with the Princess Anne parents in the stands behind the scorer's table.

Plucky Princess Anne, with a good service game and some well-timed dinks, would take two more leads, at 9-8 and 10-8, but then Stone Bridge took control. The Bulldogs got the serve back after Beckham made a nice bump set for Paige who made the kill. Beckham then served four straight points as Stone Bridge went up 14-10 and never trailed again.

During that run, Ackermann had a kill with very little resistance from the block and Pagie had another kill.

Just when it appeared that Stone Bridge would cruise to an easy win in the opening game, up 22-16, Princess Anne made it interesting, rattling off five straight points with Sydney Moreland and Rachel Wyatt putting up big solo blocks.

Raschiatore called time out with a 22-21 lead and out of the break a Princess Anne service error gave SB the ball back and a 23-21 cushion. Despite winning the next rally, another Cavalier service error brought game point and when the Princess Anne attack when long, it was 25-22 Stone Bridge.

In game two, Stone Bridge made an early 4-point run to take a 6-3 lead and the Bulldogs never trailed from that point. It was Beckham with a big block and a kill during that stretch aided by a tip shot from Heyn and an ace by Ackermann.

Once again, Princess Anne tried to make a late run, this time while down 21-16, but it was again too late as another service error halted the Cavs comeback just when they had come within two, 21-19. Beckham then made a statement with a service winner that pinged off the Cavs Libero and Princess Anne went out of the game on back-to-back net violations, falling 25-20.

The Cavs looked to extend their season with an early, 4-2 and 7-5 leads in game three, but the Bulldogs fought back with Beckham showing her smarts, putting away an offspeed kill and then dropping a tip shot into the empty hole in the middle of the Cavs defense. For the first time all night, Dooren took a seat on the Princess Anne bench.

The Bulldogs then set up the sweep with seven straight points with Beckham once again orchestrating the run from the service line. Ackermann had three kills during that stretch, highlighted by a blast off the top of the block that rattled around in the rafters and actually smacked off Dooren on the Cavs sidelines.

Leading 15-9, Stone Bridge kept their foot on the accelerator and the Bulldogs were soon making plans for Richmond as the evening ended with Miller and sophomore Hayley McClure combining on a block for the 25-12 clinching win.

For the seniors -- Beckham, Christensen, Delaney Schulte, Miller and Paige -- it was their final home game in their SB careers.

"I didn't really think about it being the final home game until I arrived this evening," said Miller. "It was kind of weird, kind of sad but it was a good way to end it."

SB Stats
Christine Beckham 11 kills, 13 service pts, 2 aces, 7 digs, 4 blocks, 3 assists
Amanda Miller 30 assists, 2 digs, 3 service pts, 1 ace, 4 blocks
Amy Christensen 16 digs, 9 service pts, 2 aces, 3 assists
Ryan Ackermann 12 kills, 1 block, 3 digs, 7 service pts, 1 ace
Alex Heyn 8 kills, 3 blocks
Vanessa Paige 4 kills, 2 blocks
Mariah Brantley 12 digs, 4 service pts, 1 ace
Chandni Chudasama 5 service pts

Princess Anne was led by Darcus with five aces and seven kills.