Girls Volleyball: Freedom's Best Season Ever Ends in 5-Set State Quarterfinal Loss to Ocean Lakes

By Dan Sousa
VivaLoudoun Editor

South Riding (Nov. 16, 2011) – The thing about momentum in sports is that you can’t stop to admire it or even contemplate it. You can only continue to ride the wave and hope it takes you home to victory. On Tuesday the Freedom High School girls volleyball team was on such a roll in the AAA state quarterfinals that you figured it was only a matter of serves before parents and fans would be plugging Siegel Center directions into their GPS devices.

Freedom (22-6) had just won back-to-back sets going away – senior Kaitlyn LaMantia and Jasmine Jackson led a 25-14 blitz in the usually decisive third set – and the Eagles, with their Black Hole student section at full throat, were leading 13-8 in the fourth set.

A dozen points to the state semifinals but Ocean Lakes (27-5), led by hard-hitting junior Taylor Stratton – who hit the ball hard enough that she might have left a divot or two in the Freedom gym floor – fought back and tied the match with a 25-21 set four win.

That momentum that had Freedom dreaming of the Final Four was now riding the other way and Ocean Lakes, taking advantage of Eagle errors, scored the first four points of the fifth set and never looked back as they ended Freedom’s best season ever with a 15-11 win.

Girls Volleyball: Tuesday Night VHSL State Quarterfinal Scoreboard

2011 VHSL Volleyball Championships
Group AAA Girls
Quarterfinals - Tues. Nov. 15
Atlee def. Woodson, 3-1 (21-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-14)
Ocean Lakes def. Freedom, 3-2 (25-18, 17-25, 14-25, 25-21, 15-11)
Kellam def. Patrick Henry-Roanoke, 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-12)
Stone Bridge def. James River-Midlothian, 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-13)

Semifinals - Thurs. Nov. 17 at VCU
Atlee (29-3) vs. Ocean Lakes (27-5), 5 p.m.
Kellam (31-0) vs. Stone Bridge (28-2), 7 p.m.

AA Girls
Quarterfinals - Tues. Nov. 15
Cave Spring def. E.C. Glass, 3-0 (25-12, 25-5, 25-12)
Loudoun County def. Chancellor, 3-0 (25-12, 25-16, 25-15)
Hidden Valley def. Rustburg, 3-0 (27-25, 25-12, 25-22)
Jamestown def. Western Albemarle, 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-15, 25-23)

Semifinals - Fri. Nov. 18 at VCU
Cave Spring (27-3) vs. Loudoun County (27-1), 6:30 p.m.
Hidden Valley (23-6) vs. Jamestown (26-4), 8:30 p.m.

Girls Volleyball: VHSL AAA State Tournament Brackets

(Nov. 14, 2011) - Both Freedom High School and Stone Bridge High School will host Virginia High School League girls volleyball state quarterfinals on Tuesday at 7 p.m. with the Eagles facing Ocean Lakes and the Bulldogs taking on James River. Ticket prices are $10.

2011 VHSL Volleyball Championships
Group AAA Girls
Quarterfinals - Tues. Nov. 15
Woodson (Northern runner-up) at Atlee (Central champion)
Ocean Lakes (Eastern runner-up) at Freedom (Northwest champion)
Patrick Henry-Roanoke (Northwest runner-up) at Floyd E. Kellam (Eastern champ)
James River-Midlothian (Central runner-up) at Stone Bridge (Northern champ)

Semifinals - Thurs. Nov. 17 at VCU, 5 and 7 p.m.
Finals - Sat. Nov. 19 at VCU, 7 p.m.