In what was nothing short of a knock-down drag-out war between the two top teams in the Jefferson District standings, Western Albemarle and Albemarle put on a show in a playoff atmosphere. And with both teams finding a way to climb out of holes to steal sets, the Warriors established a lead — a small one at that, but in the fifth and final set that the Patriots just couldn’t quite dig out of. As such, Western walked out with a 3-2 win over its rival on the road, 3-2, (22-25, 27-25, 27-25, 25-23, 15-12).
“That third set and I turned to my assistants and said, ‘We stole that,’” said Western coach Ron Pack. “They pretty much stole the first set from us because we had a pretty big lead. So we stole the third, they stole the first. I was really pleased with our defense. When we played good defense our offense follows and we started playing good defense and that’s what carried us. You’ve got to give Albemarle credit though because they gave us nothing. We had to earn every point we got tonight. They played phenomenal defense too and then their passing was excellent too.”
It was the third set that proved to be the pivotal battle between the two. With the game at 24-23 and the Warriors looking at a 2-1 hole, Western’s Kelsey Grove came up with a big kill to even the contest back up. Albemarle thought it had won the set 26-24 moments later, but a late net violation call gave the Warriors a tie again, and an opportunity they would not squander as they walked away 27-25 winners to turn the tables and take a 2-1 lead themselves.
“It’s definitely a mental game and they’re a really good team,” Grove said. “It’s easy for us to get down on ourselves but we pushed through it tonight and worked together on defense… It feels amazing. We haven’t beaten them in a really long time and our team has worked really hard to get to this point.”
Albemarle answered in the fourth set, digging out of a 13-6 hole to start. With the game tied at 18-18, the Patriots claimed a quick 2-point advantage and managed to hang out to it to force a fifth set after a 25-23 win.
“I was really pleased with how determined the girls were to stick in there and compete,” said Albemarle coach Mark Ragland. “A lot times when you get down like that in a big match in this kind of environment its easy to fold and wilt. They did none of that. We had every opportunity to win the match but sometimes the call doesn’t go your way like in the third and we just have to move on. My kids competed after that and so I can’t complain.”
In the fifth set, Western ran out to a key 3-0 start and while the Patriots knotted the game up at 7-7, western took a 11-10 advantage and the won four of the next six points with Grove picking up the match ending kill at 15-12.
While the Warriors came from behind and snagged the third set, it was Albemarle that swiped the first after they faced an 11-2 deficit out of the gate. Senior Katie Smith then reeled off 12 straight service points as the Patriots took a 14-11 lead and never surrendered it en route to a 25-22 win to go up 1-0.
“When you’re down like that in the first set and a kid like Katie comes does something like that, it’s just so much fun to watch,” Ragland said. “The things you learn in those situations, those are the things that serve you later in life.”
Western evened up the score in the second set that went back-and-forth just like the others. Albemarle had a 13-10 lead but the Warriors managed to force extra points and slip away with a 27-25 win to even the game at 1-1 before the ever important third set.
On the night, Grove wound up setting the Western record for kills in a match with 22. The senior flirted with the record last week and officially put her name in the books on her last swing in the fifth set.
“It’s a honor but I can’t do that without my team, the defense they played,” Grove said. “If we aren’t working together, it’s not possible, so I have to thank all of them for this.”
Grove also had 19 digs in a solid day defensively as four others finished with at least double-digit digs including Hannah Miles’ 15 and Erin Farina and Adriana Bland each picking up 10 of their own. Farina led the Warriors with 48 assists and also three aces. Courtney Berry had 15 kills. And with Colleen Forsman out sick and Western having to move Olivia Nichols from her usual spot in the middle to fill the void, sophomore Cassidy Wilson stepped into Nichols’ spot and led the team with six blocks.
“I just had to step up and tried to listen to all the critiques that Coach Pack had for me,” Wilson said. “I tried to match sure I wasn’t watching the (Albemarle) setter and keep up with whoever was on the other side playing middle too.”
For Albemarle, Stephanie Lugus led the offense with 25 ills and three blocks. Alexis Duday added 14 kills. Cindy Yu had 25 digs while Sarah Hanssen had 11. Ellie Benning put up 49 assists. Smith led the Patriots with 21 service points.
Western travels to Charlottesville on Thursday while Albemarle heads to Monticello. This was the first Jefferson District loss for the Patriots this year, and the first since an early loss in the season to Fluvanna in 2014.
“I think this is the type of match we all need to have in the Jefferson,” Ragland said. “That way these kind of matches aren’t such a stranger to you as you head into the playoffs.”
Ditto for Pack and his squad.
“That’s the kind of match we want going into the postseason, a high quality match, a fast-paced match,” Pack said. “This is going to help down the road.”
