While the sets went back and forth, as far as game play was concerned, it was really one team just taking it to the other until the fifth set. It was there where both teams dug in deep and for 11 straight points, neither Albemarle nor Fluvanna County had consecutive serves. That changed late though as the Flucos got a pair of huge kills from Maddy Kline to take the first substantial lead of the fifth and final game. It proved to be the difference, and as such Fluvanna was able to walk out with a big 3-2 victory on the road, 25-16, 20-25, 25-18, 17-25, 15-11.
“Albemarle is such a tough team and (its coach) Mark Ragland has been my mentor since I started coaching, so it was so fantastic to play such good volleyball against this team and come out on top,” said Fluvanna coach Christy Harlowe-Garrett. “They exploited some weaknesses of ours, but we just tried to hang in there and keep getting the ball back. Volleyball is about momentum, fighting through adversity.”
Fluvanna was sharp out of the gate in the first set, building a 10-4 lead and going up by as much as 19-7. Albemarle was able to rally a bit late, but it was too late and the Flucos drew first blood. However, the late momentum the Patriots build at the end of the first set carried over into the second. The closest of the first four games, Albemarle built an 11-5 lead in game two only to have Fluvanna race back at tie things up at 12-12. The Patriots recovered and took six of the next eight points and held that margin the rest of the way thought to even the match at 1-1.
“We’re a little smaller this year than in years past, so trying to contain the big hitters is tough,” Ragland said. “But our back row has been great about digging and that’s the thing for us. We have to have that staple and be able to pass the ball.”
In the third set both teams battled early with Fluvanna getting a little bit of an edge at 9-6. A run of 10-4 then followed and the Flucos took firm control of the set, finished it off, and consequently held firm control of the match at 2-1.
“We just tried to play keep away from (Albemarle senior libero) Taylor Bauman,” Harlowe-Garrett said. “We’ve been able to mix things up a bit this year and we’re seeing some different people do some different things with the ball. We had to do that tonight because that’s what they were doing. It would be swing, swing, tip in the middle and then back to swinging. Diversity is a good thing.”
Albemarle had to dig out of an early whole in the fourth, trailing 8-4 to start, but taking the lead after a 7-1 run. After a Fluvanna timeout, the Patriots won 11 of the next 15 points to go up 22-14 before closing out the game and forcing the fifth and final set.
“In the end I think (the ebb and flow of the sets) was a good thing because it let us know that winning this match meant we had to be tough,” Kline said. “It forced us into playing with the right mindset.”
It was 3-3 to open up game five, and after Fluvanna went up 5-3, the 11-point back-and-forth took place where Flucos simply couldn’t get away from the Patriots, and conversely, the Patriots just couldn’t quite tie things up. At 11-9, Fluvanna got the 3-point lead it desperately needed. Albemarle answered by making it a 1-point game again at 12-11, but the Flucos rallied to close out the match with two big kills from Kline followed by an error on Albemarle to wrap up the match.
“We worked in practice all week on not letting teams get runs on us so I think that came into effect in the fifth set,” Kline said. “Winning was the greatest feeling. We’ve been trying to win here for so long and to finally to do it and do it where we know we had to earn it, that they didn’t give us anything — that’s the best.”
Kline finished with 16 kills on the night to lead the Flucos offense. Leslie Walters finished with 11 kills. Lee Lee Robins had four aces. Kylee Dixon tallied six blocks. Kate Stutz finished with 37 assists.
For Albemarle, Stephanie Lugus had 17 kills while Paige Hanssen added 15 of her won. Both finished with three blocks. Cindy Yu finished with 20 digs. Ellie Benning had 31 assists. Bauman finished with 12 digs and four aces.
“Tonight I think we tightned up a bit and hesitated where we didn’t this past weekend and we can’t do that,” Ragland said.
Fluvanna (6-1, 1-0 Jefferson District) hosts Orange County on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Albemarle (5-2, 0-1) travels to Western Albemarle, also on Thursday at 7 p.m.
