Patriots Claim Regional Title 3-2
It is often said that a person finds out more about their character during adversity than during smoothe sailing. If that is the case, the Albemarle volleyball team learned volumes about who they are Saturday night; and I'd dare say, they liked what they saw!
The Patriots came out jittery and out of rhythm on Saturday in their Regional Championship Match against Loudon Valley on Saturday night. They were rarely able to combine a pass, a set, and an attack during the first game, as they only had 3 legitimate attacks the entire first game, as they fell to the Vikings 25-21.
In game 2, the Patriots sought to right the ship as they jumped out to an early 9-2 lead. However, the vikings service game heated up and they closed the score to 12-9. After a couple of service errors by the Patriots, the Vikings went on a 7 point run to take a 16-14 lead, and after a couple of traded side outs, closed out the match with a 6 point run to win game 2, 25-17.
In game 3, it was a nip and tuck contest with 5 tie scores, before the Patriots scored 6 straight points, riding the serving arm of Meg Carpenter to put AHS into the 18-13 lead. The Patriots played hard, determined not be eliminated in 3 games, and closed out game 3 by a 25-18 score.
Game 4 broke open quickly as the Vikings separated themselves early and took a commanding 14-7 lead. It looked like the Patriots may be done as they were struggling to locate passes and the Viking block began to solidify. However, the Patriots dug deep and scored 5 points on Brittany Parnell's serve to pull within 2 at 14-12. The two teams traded side outs and the Vikings looked ready to pull away at 19-16. However, Laura Gomez and the Patriots were not finished as she scored 5 points on her serve, including two aces, to put the Patriots ahead, 21-19. The Patrots scored 4 out of the next 6 points to take the 4th game, 25-21.
The newly inspired Patriots came out in game 5 like a different team. All of the struggles with passing, setting, and hitting seemed to disappear and the pressure had obviously landed on the shoulders of the Vikings like a ton of bricks. Albemarle grabbed a thin 5-3 lead and maintained that margin until the score was 10-8. At that point, Hannah Lawson took control of the serve and the front row combination of Gomez and Kara Elder was too much for the much taller Vikings, as they pushed their lead to 13-8. The two teams traded sideouts and on match point, the Left Side Hitter for Loudon Valley hit a rocket that was just wide of the line, as the Patriots erupted into a wild and emotional celebration as they had captured their first Regional Title in 8 years, and the fifth in Albemarle History.
On the night, Kara Elder led all attackers with 17 kills, and in the process, set the Single Season Kills record. Laura Gomez followed closely with 15 kills, while Hannah Lawson and Sarah Deal finished with 9 and 5 respectively. Abby Hendrix dished out 44 Assists, while Gomez finished with 5 blocks and Katie Mastropaolo and Deal added two each. Gomez also led all servers with 13 service points while Parnell followed closely with 12 and Lawson had 9.
The Patriots move to 24-3 on the season and will host a State Quarterfinal Match on Tuesday, against the Regional Runner-Up from the Eastern Region. Game time will be announced on Monday.
