On Wednesday night, Albemarle volleyball defeated a tough, defensive-minded, and determined Louisa squad 3-0.
Coming off a heartbreaking five-set loss to rival Western Albemarle Tuesday night, Albemarle was looking to rebound versus Louisa and the Patriots got going again, winning 25-15, 25-21, and 25-23.
“We moved the lineup around; we had a lot of people in different position, and everybody rose to the challenge,” said Albemarle head coach Lance Rodgers. “Louisa’s easy to underestimate, but they’re actually a pretty disciplined group, and they’ve got some pretty good hitters on the team.”
Kylie Robinson had a dozen kills for the Lions, and Emma McGehee contributed six kills to her effort. Louisa’s defense also showed their toughness with Robinson notching 14 digs and Emma Van Pelt chipping in 13 digs of her own. The Lions ability to dig the ball out several times in crucial moments kept the team competitive by somewhat limiting Albemarle’s Maya Winterhoff.
“They (Louisa) always step up and play. Albemarle’s always been a great competitive team,” said Louisa head coach Rachel Green. “Last year we took their first set that they’d lost in a long time, and we were hoping to take another one. They worked hard, they played hard, and I was really proud of them.
On the other side of the net, although Louisa was defensively stout, they were no match for the sets and hits between Winterhoff and junior setter Cece Smith. These two have been working together for a couple of months, but their connection is sensational. Smith had 29 assists and Winterhoff had 27 kills. Albemarle’s defense was also solid with freshman libero Grace Sembrowich adding 17 digs of her own.
“It’s always hard to come off a loss and push back towards any team. Since Louisa’s such a good team, it was impressive for us to come out with a 3-set victory,” said Winterhoff. “We don’t let one thing get in our head; we get past it and focus on what’s next.”
As previously mentioned, Albemarle was off their normal rotation with middle hitter Madelyn Ott being a pre-game scratch. Consequently, Weining Ding who is normally an outside hitter made her first start at the middle position.
“We made a couple of changes in the lineup, but it shows that we’re really flexible as a team,” said Ding. “We’re really resilient and it’s not going to change how we play.”
The two squads will battle again on October 21st, but Albemarle first faces Harrisonburg Monday and Goochland Tuesday. Louisa faces Caroline Monday and Charlottesville Tuesday.
