Girls Volleyball: Stone Bridge Sweeps into State Semifinals on 20-Match Winning Streak

By Gabrielle Scudder
Special to VivaLoudoun

Ashburn (Nov. 16, 2011) - In the second set Tuesday of the AAA girls volleyball state quarterfinals at Stone Bridge High School, a James River outside hitter watched a ball hit her foot as it dropped out of bounds. That play, and plenty of Bulldog shots that hit the middle of the court, pretty much summed up the match as Stone Bridge swept James River, 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-13).

Stone Bridge (28-2) rolls into the state semifinals Thursday at 7 p.m. on a 20-match winning streak but the Bulldogs will have their work cutout as they faced unbeaten Kellam (31-0), the team that beat Stone Bridge in last year's state finals.


Jumping out to a quick lead in set one, Stone Bridge coasted to a 25-16 victory.

In the second set, the game sailed back and forth for a while, until the Rapids took a slight lead before two nice plays by Stone Bridge junior outside hitter Kendall Schulte, which tied it up at 14-14.

Tied again at 18-18, Bulldog junior setter Kelly Stancik came up with a big kill to make it 19-18; Stone Bridge never looked back after that, taking the set, 25-20.

In set three Stone Bridge continued to frustrate James River (22-9) with their vicious attacks leading to an 8-4 early lead.

Senior Rachel Auerbach and freshman Shannon Williams came up with a number of big blocks to propel Stone Bridge to a 12-7 lead. Auerbach then went on a serving run that all-but slammed the door shut on James River's season, giving the Bulldogs a 17-7 lead.

Stone Bridge's strong serving and hard attacks forced too many free balls from the Rapids, and Stone Bridge closed out the sweep with a 25-13 win.

After the game Stone Bridge coach Jill Raschiatore commented on how nice it was to have the home court and to win in three.

Reflecting on the team, said said Stone Bridge has had a balanced attack all season: "When one girl is off, another is hot."

She went on to say that this team is completely different than last year's squad; the current mesh of talent and the team chemistry is what makes this year's squad so successful.

As the coach summed it up, she included that the girls manage to remain "crazy and serious throughout the games and the season".

SB Stats for the Match:
Kelly Stancik 16 assists, 2 digs
Shannon Williams 2 solo blocks, 6 kills
Mariah Brantley 9 digs
Megan Bryn 5 kills, 14 digs, 1 ace
Kristen Jones21 assists, 3 digs
Libby Haslett 5 kills, 1 solo block
Sarah Fairchild 17 digs, 1 ace
Ryan Ackermann 8 kills, 4 digs, 1 ace
Rachel Auerbach 6 kills, 5 digs, 3 aces
Kendall Schulte 9 kills, 1 dig