Albemarle’s volleyball team put together a strong weekend as tournament hosts, beating a string of tough opponents en route a victory in the Albemarle Invitational Championship.
The Patriots dropped Fauquier twice on the day, including a 2-0 victory in the championship game over the Falcons after Fauquier beat Brooke Point in the semifinals. Albemarle rolled 25-14 in game one, but the Falcons actually built an 11-8 lead before a four-point service run by Cindy Yu lifted the Patriots to a 13-11 lead that Albemarle never relinquished as they won 25-19.
Stephanie Lugus did the heavy lifting in the title match at the net with 12 kills and five blocks while getting some help on the block from Emery Hawkins (4 blocks) and Katie Schnell (3 blocks). Ellie Benning registered 22 assists in the final to spark the Albemarle offense.
On the day that included wins over former Commonwealth District foe North Stafford, King George and Fauquier, Broad Run and then Fauquier again, Lugus had 39 kills and 20 blocks while Benning had 22 kills and 87 assists. Cindy Yu rang up 11 aces and came up with 41 digs. Sarah Hanssen made the most of her service opportunities with 21 points and 7 aces and Lindsey Earles finished with 17 digs. Yu, Benning, and Lugus were selected to the All-Tournament Team.
The win over Broad Run was a particularly sweet victory for Albemarle as the Patriots and Spartans have gone the distance in the schools’ previous three meetings the last three years. This time Albemarle was on point and ended the match early with a 25-18, 25-17 sweep. Lugus had 11 of her kills in that win.
Albemarle remains undefeated on the season with a 7-0 record. They head to Louisa Tuesday to open Jefferson District play.
