Colonial Forge went back to the drawing board and started tinkering with their entire defensive strategy after falling to Albemarle twice in the regular season.
It immediately produced results.
The Eagles took home the Commonwealth District tournament title, winning 3-1 in the two teams’ third meeting of the year.
“We did change things after they beat us the second time—we completely revamped our defense to go against some of their strengths,” said Colonial Forge coach Keith Mesa. “I thought that was extremely successful tonight and I think our kids stepped up when they needed to step up.”
After two see-saw games that produced an early deadlock, things changed drastically for the Patriots in the third game. Communication problems plagued the Patriots in the third frame, and the ensuing run of unforced errors sunk Albemarle.
“We had a lot of passing errors tonight, and we were really tentative on serve/receive,” said Albemarle coach Mark Ragland. “When we don’t get the ball to our setter we’re in trouble, as most teams are.”
The Eagles got big-time performances from Brooke Kelly, who finished with a match-high 17 kills, and Morgan Hymes who buried 11 kills of her own.
But it was Alyssa Baird’s balanced outing on defense and at the service line that seemed to lift Colonial Forge. Baird had 20 digs and five critical aces, keeping the Patriots on their heels with an inspired serving performance.
The Eagles took game one 25-21, answering a pair of Albemarle runs that netted the Patriots narrow leads with runs of their own. The decisive run seemed to come when Colonial Forge nabbed a 22-19 advantage and held on from there.
The second game was the most hotly contested, with Albemarle pulling out a 27-25 victory. Hannah Lawson, who finished with 16 kills, played a big part in that short-lived victory.
Colonial Forge dominated games three and four, winning 25-10 and 25-14.
Abby Hendrix, recently named the Commonwealth District player of the year, played a savvy game at setter. Recognizing the Patriots’ struggles on offense, the senior shifted gears and started trying to create opportunities for dump kills. The strategy worked as she came up with nine kills while finding the deep corners several times.
Both squads move on to the Northwest Region tournament next week.
