Albemarle and Western Albemarle’s rivalry is one of the Jefferson District’s most fierce, and in volleyball, that matchup has delivered a number of absolute classics over the years. But for Albemarle coach Lance Rogers, who has been in the mix for a lot of those classics when he coached Western from 2002-2010, this installment felt a little different.
“I watch a lot of European soccer and when a player leaves one team and goes to another, and then scores against his old team, he makes a point of not doing any ostentatious celebration,” said Rogers, who returned to coaching this year after a 10-year absence. “I was trying to bring the same dignity to this match and show the same respect to that program and all the good years I had there.”
In his first match against the program he once led, Rogers’ squad rolled to a sweep of the Warriors, executing in all facets of the game for a 3-0 victory to stay unbeaten on the year.
The Patriots set the tone for the match early on. The first set started off in a close battle with the Patriots holding a narrow 10-9 lead. Then an 8-0 run changed everything and the Patriots took complete control of the set. The Warriors tried their best to fight their way back in the match, but the Patriots always seemed to have an answer with both of the following sets having similar outcomes.
Some of those answers came in standout performances, like Maya Winterhoff with 15 kills and Sophia Dawson notching five aces and 10 digs. They also got another strong outing from Keira Roach, who led the team with 27 assists.
“It feels great, we look forward to this game every single year, we have a lot of friends on the other team so just like having that friendly rivalry,” said Roach.
The Warriors though, while taking a sweep, fought hard to try to find a way back into each set. Ellie Boitnott led Western with 15 assists, Sofia Beard with six kills, and Amber Parker with four assists and 12 digs.
“We came into this match with a young team, and every match is meant to be a learning experience and we want to see improvement match after match and obviously coming up against Albemarle tensions are running high,” said Warriors coach Julie Radlinski. “I thought they played really well, they just had moments of brilliance and that’s what we keep talking about what was our learning from the match tonight to be able to take forward.”
After the win, the Patriots will head to Orange on Thursday, while the Warriors travel to Monticello the same night.
