Sometimes you’re looking for an edge from anything just before a match and even a warmup that looks a little too casual can be exactly the spark a team like Albemarle volleyball needs to light a fire.
“We knew we had to win tonight or we’d be done and they started getting a little cocky before the game even started,” said Albemarle senior Sophia Dawson. “We didn’t say anything but we definitely pushed and wanted it.”
Albemarle, who has been playing a marathon of three and four games a week recently, took that little edge, that little spark and wasted little time Tuesday night getting off on the right foot, ripping off a 7-0 run to start the match against North Stafford en route to a 3-0 sweep in the Region 5D semifinals.
The Patriots fed Maya Winterhoff all night and the junior hitter unleashed 26 kills with a blistering .480 hitting percentage to lead the way for Albemarle.
While that fast start was a huge help, the critical stretch for the Patriots came in game two when North Stafford bounced back from the early struggles and fought hard in a back-and-forth game two. The Patriots withstood the storm, won 25-22 and then cruised 25-13 in game three.
“We came in on a super emotional high and we rode that wave through the first set but they came back as we knew they would and battled us point-for-point in that second set,” said Albemarle coach Lance Rogers. “I feel like that was really the climax of the match because it decided the tone.”
Winterhoff was a big reason for the Patriots handling that back-and-forth as she came up with 13 digs and two blocks in addition to her monster performance on the attack. Winterhoff had a couple of those kills from the backline, operating as a weapon all over the floor.
Once North Stafford fully committed to trying to slow down Winterhoff, it opened things up for Dawson who had eight kills and in particular helped close out the match with several game three kills.
“We tend to focus on Maya and Keira (Roach) and with good reason, if we had All-Jefferson District they’d be the top two candidates (for player of the year) but we have these other players that play roles, our libero (Franceszca Camaya) did a fantastic job defensively and Dawson was just all over the place,” Rogers said.
Roach was a machine at setter all night with 33 assists while Camaya had 18 digs to bolster the Patriots’ defensive effort. Dawson also reached double digit digs with 10 on the night.
The Patriots advance to the Region 5D championship game that they’ll host Thursday at 6 p.m. against Mountain View with a state tournament berth on the line.
