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Albemarle volleyball’s Sarah Woods was constant yelling, celebrating and screaming. Fellow senior Sydnie Kostelac, clipboard in hand, was yelling after every point, bringing all kinds of encouragement from the Patriots’ bench. And it wasn’t just those two. Everyone on Albemarle’s roster took things to another level Thursday night.
It’s a good thing they did, because they needed nearly every ounce of it, edging Broad Run 3-2 in the Northwest Region semifinals to earn a berth to the Group AAA tournament.
“We all just reminded each other that we were here for a reason — we didn’t want to go out losing in the fifth game,” Woods said. “We just kept each other up. Every single point we were behind each other.”
With Broad Run unleashing a powerful attack and a sturdy block, particularly as they took control of the match in games three and four, Albemarle had to get increasingly creative and move the ball around to every hitter from every angle.
“We think a lot — we know we may not be as strong as some of the other hitters every single time we go up,” Woods said. “But we think (for example) if I put the ball as hard as I can in this one spot then that’s better than just swinging blindly — that’s what we work on in practice.”
That creativity paid off in game five when a parade of different hitters and servers came up with key points for the Patriots. Woods herself struck early during a run that put the Patriots up 6-2. Aces from Taylor Bauman and Jessica Block also spurred the run to a 15-10 victory in the game along with two kills from Hannah Deal. But the fact that the Patriots never faltered or looked frustrated despite losing all the momentum in the match with the game three and four losses seemed to be the key.
“Sarah has been an emotional leader for us on the court,” Ragland said. “I think Sydnie Kostelac does a great job of trying to keep us up from the bench. Those type of people make a huge difference in these types of matchups.”
Deal had a monster night with 18 kills, 10 service points and an ace. She got a lot of help from Woods, who finished with 16 kills and four blocks. Lexi Brown notched 11 kills and three blocks despite receiving the bulk of the attention from Broad Run’s blockers and struggling with her rhythm. Chelsea Woodfolk rounded out the frontline performance with another double digit night, posting 10 kills and a block for good measure.
“I think getting out to a big run (in game five) early made a big difference,” Ragland said. “You could see (Broad Run) tighten up a little bit.”
Jessica Block was critical for the Patriots at the service line — 16 service points and three aces — and also dished out 51 assists on the night. Bauman had nine digs while Caroline Porco checked in with 14 digs on the night.
The win puts Albemarle in the Group AAA tournament. They’ll host the Northwest Region final Saturday at 5 p.m. where they’ll face Patrick Henry High out of Roanoke. A win Saturday would give Albemarle a home game in the state quarterfinals.
