Volleyball: While Loudoun County and Stone Bridge Swept to Regional Titles, Heritage Won an Epic 5-Gamer

Heritage High School senior Lian Bernett and junior Christina Kamis

Heritage High School volleyball coach Carmel Keilty


By Dan Sousa
VivaLoudoun Editor

Leesburg (Nov. 14, 2010) - It was a volleyball "title wave" on Saturday night as three Loudoun teams claimed regional crowns. While Loudoun County (Region II winners) and Stone Bridge (Northern Region) swept to victory, Heritage had to work a 5-game thriller against Cedar Run District foe Osbourn Park to take the school's first ever Northwest Region title.

It was also Stone Bridge's first ever Northern Region title, as the Bulldogs took Hayfield in three games.

For Loudoun County, a quick winner over Dulles District opponent Freedom, it was an amazing fifth straight Region II title. County is the 3-time defending AA state champion and has made the AA state finals four straight years.

For Tuesday, the regional titles earned Heritage (23-2), Loudoun County (25-1) and Stone Bridge (26-1) home dates in the state quarterfinals. The Pride host Deep Run; the Raiders host Powhatan; and Stone Bridge takes on Princess Anne. All start at 7 p.m. with the exception of Heritage that starts at 6 p.m. and cost is $8. (FYI - that price is fixed by the VHSL, not the schools, and senior citizens are not admitted free)

Freedom (17-10) travels to Grafton.

Tuesday Schedule
State Quarterfinals
AA Girls
Cave Spring at Jefferson Forest, 7
Powhatan at Loudoun County, 7
Freedom at Grafton, 7
Turner Ashby at Hidden Valley, 7

AAA Girls
Princess Anne at Stone Bridge, 7
Osbourn Park at Atlee, 7
Deep Run at Heritage, 6
Hayfield at Kellam, 7

The Skinny on Saturday's Regional Titles Games


Region II Final
Loudoun County def. Freedom, 25-13, 25-9, 25-14
The Skinny: Loudoun County came out swinging and rode that momentum to a sweep over Freedom in the Region II Championship match. The Raiders defeated Eagles for the 4th time this season to improve to 25-1 on the season and extend their winning streak to 21 matches. Leading the Raiders to victory were Jenna Strange (12 kills, 8 points, 5 digs, 3 aces, 2 blocks), Sammy Dormio (6 kills, 8 points, 6 digs, 2 aces), Rachel Arigo (6 kills), Taylor Huewe (4 kills, 4 blocks, 2 digs), Katrina Kirby (4 kills, 3 digs, 1 block, 1 assist), Maggie Phillips (4 kills, 2 blocks, 1 assist), Colleen Bowlds (21 assists, 19 points, 7 aces, 3 digs, 1 block, 1 kill), Jordan Leiter (12 assists, 10 points, 5 digs, 5 aces), Gabby Serafin (17 digs, 4 points, 1 ace), Kathleen Horvath (6 digs, 4 points, 1 ace, 1 kill). Loudoun County will host Region I Runner up Powhatan High School this Tuesday at 7 PM in the VHSL AA State Quarterfinals, while Freedom will travel to Region I Champion Grafton High School for a 7 PM match on Tuesday.


Northern Region Final
Stone Bridge def. Hayfield, 25-17, 25-14, 25-19
The Skinny: Leading the Bulldogs: Stone Bridge Libero Amy Christensen was named Northern Region tournament MVP and Ryan Ackermann and Alex Heyn also made the all-tournament team as the Bulldogs swept to their first regional title.

Christensen had 13 digs and eight services points. Ackermann had seven kills, four digs and six service points and Heyn had nine kills and two blocks. As usual, senior Christine Beckham (18 kills, 9 digs, 8 services points, 2 aces, 2 blocks) and Amanda Miller (36 assists, 1 kills, 5 digs, 2 blocks) were huge for Stone Bridge.

Also for SB:
Vanessa Paige 4 kills, 2 digs
Mariah Brantley 9 digs, 8 service pts, 2 aces
Haley McClure 2 kills, 3 blocks, 2 digs

The Bulldogs host Princess Anne High School in the AAA state quarterfinals on Tuesday at 7.


Northwest Region Final
Heritage def. Osbourn Park, 25-19. 24-26, 22-25, 27-25, 17-15
The Skinny: The Pride took an intense 5-game match from the Yellow Jackets. Loudoun Valley High School coach Laird Johnson, who led his Vikings to the AAA state title last season, was on hand for the match and said: "That was playoff volleyball the was it was meant to be."

It was a game of big swings as Heritage cruised early, winning game one 25-19 and seemingly having wrapped up game two, 25-23, but a net violation on the Pride prolonged the game and OP took advantage, coming back for a 26-24 win.

OP trailed 18-14 in game three but erased the lead and with Aricquel Payne and Samantha Schambach pounding away, took the game 25-22 to lead 2-1.

Heritage dramatically had to stave off match point in game four as they trailed the entire contest, down 15-11 at one point, and were trailing 21-18 and 23-20 as the Yellow Jackets could sense the title celebration.

At 23-20, Heritage senior Lian Bernett was not going to be denied one more opportunity to play at home and she showed a fierce determination on the front row with two kills sandwiched around a put away by Syney Busa to tie it, 23-23.

Schambach, however, finished an attack to bring it to 24-23 but the Yellow Jackets sent the potential winning serve long and then on a serve by Busa, OP couldn't pass it and it was 25-24 Heritage.

Now it was OP's turn to fight off a game point as the Yellow Jacket back row picked up a Heritage attack that could have won the game and Morgan Brown blasted an errant pass in the middle to make it 25-25.

Bernett then rose high on the next possession for the Pride and put down a vertical kill that went over the block but buffed the floor in front of the OP back row. Kelsey Hrebenach then forced a game five with a kill from the middle to give Heritage the game 4 win, 27-25.

Heritage sprinted out to a 6-1 lead in the fifth game with Christina Kamis tooling the block as well as blasting a kill. Hrebenach kept OP off-balanced with a dink.

The Yellow Jackets then reeled off five straight points to take a 7-6 lead with Schambach's hot serve the key as she had a service winner, an ace and then two serves that the Heritage defense sent back over the net where Payne put the hurt on the ball.

It was Heritage's turn for a run as the Pride responded with five straight points to take what appeared to be a commanding 11-7 lead in the race to 15. Hrebenach was big in the middle with a kill, a solo block and an assisted block with Bernett on the run.

The teams traded points with Bernett using the OP block to her advantage and Hrebenach putting the rook on an Yellow Jacket attempt to make it 13-10 Heritage.

Erikka Davis kept OP alive with a kill but when OP went wide on the attack it was match point for Heritage at 14-12. OP threw up a big block and Schambach put away a kill to tie it at 14-14, forcing the teams to play extra as one side needed to win by two to claim the title.

Heritage freshman Madeline Fowler picked a big time to throw down a kill to make it 15-14 but OP rallied, blocking Bernett on the potential game-winning attack. Bernett was focused and calling for the ball again on the next serve and then time she put it away so quickly the defense could not stop it.

Now at 16-15, a wild rally ensued with Emma Le Maitre, playing Libero for the Pride since returning from a foot injury, made a great save and Bernett too advantage of an open spot in OP's defense, pushing the ball back into the corner for the match winner.

For Heritage:

Bernett- 18 kills, 2 assisted blocks, 7 points, 1 ace, 1 assist, 19 digs
Busa- 7 kills, 3 assisted blocks, 15 points, 4 aces, 10 digs
Fowler-11 kills, 1 solo block, 1 assisted block, 8 points, 1 ace, 1 assist9 digs
Hrebenach- 13 kills, 3 solo blocks, 1 assisted block, 5 points, 1 ace, 7 digs
Kamis-7 kills, 4 points, 14 digs
Le maitre- 22 digs
Montanez- 1 dig
Runyan-6 digs
Yokoyama- 11 points, 54 assists, 13 digs