A better start you likely can’t find — an 11-0 run to open up the season in the first set of the match at home with St. Anne’s-Belfield. That’s what Albemarle volleyball got, and it got the Patriots thinking for a second, and quite possibly made coach Mark Ragland a bit nervous.
“Honestly the first thing we started thinking about is what we call ‘Outback’,” said Albemarle senior Stephanie Lugus. “If we ever get a 25-0 set coach Ragland has to buy us all a meal at Outback Steakhouse. It was motivation early for us.”
Of course, STAB, while clearly rattled early, would not comply, as the Saints stopped the bleeding at 11-1 in the first set and improved in each set as the night went on. For St. Anne’s, the match was a chance to play outside the private ranks against one of the largest and the most successful public school in volleyball over the last three years. It was an opportunity to get a season opening tune-up. For Albemarle, it was a chance to see just how good its returning chorus was — and it looked awfully good through the first two sets — while also working in an awful lot of its bench. In the end it worked out to a 3-0 win for the Patriots, 25-7, 25-12, 25-16 but one where both coaches were excited about the meeting and the learning curve it sets up for both to start the year.
“Serving was a little bit of a struggle for us before this so it was nice to see how well we did to start, shake that off,” Ragland said. “We didn’t give them lollipops and hit our spots. I’m a big believer in serving and if you don’t do that well then the rest of your night might not go so well.”
Albemarle tore off that 11-0 run to start with Lindsey Earles earning 10 of her 14 service points. Earles then picked up a pair of aces to make it 20-6. STAB might have struggled early, but it made the Patriots earn the points at the end of the first set with new libero Cindy Yu making some dazzling plays defensively to set up a 25-7 finish.
“Communication as a team, I thought we did that well tonight,” Lugus said. “Keeping up our energy was great, especially with so many people coming in and out. We dealt with the changes, gelled together as a team and it was really fun.”
In the second set, Albemarle’s front line set the tone as Stephanie Lugus, Madison Warlick and Emery Hawkins came alive. The Patriots established an 8-3 lead and then quickly made it 13-4. The Saints cut the deficit to 14-10 with Sierra Smith coming alive to finish offensively. However, the last half of the second set belonged to Albemarle and Warlick led the way to a 25-12 finish to make it 2-0.
“We aren’t trying to overpower teams, but if we pass well, play consistent up front it’s going to help us out a lot,” Ragland said.
The third set was the most competitive with the Patriots shuffling things around. With the game at 10-7 in Albemarle’s favor, the Saints were able to keep close as late as 17-15.
Still, Albemarle’s depth as a program showed late as they won eight of the final nine points to wrap up the 3-0 win with a 25-16 victory in the third set.
“The emphasis tonight was definitely working together as a team,” said STAB coach Stacey Gearhart. “We wanted to fix the controllables, and have fun out there. It was our first match of the season and we were grateful to have it against Albemarle. We have a predominantly returning varsity roster, and with that comes high expectations. So we got a little wound up but just need to work on the calm, routine plays right now.”
On the night, Lugus led the way with 10 kills while Warlick added six. Earles finished with 16 service points and four aces. Katie smith had 14 service points. Despite only playing two sets, starting setter Ellie Benning had 19 assists. Yu led the defense with 10 digs, and three of those drawing heavy applause from the Patriots faithful.
For STAB, Smith led the attack with seven kills while also chipping in a trio of blocks. Ann Cathcart finished with four kills and eight digs.
“We need to work on some timing and staying at home and reading the sets, but we can look at this film say ‘Alright, this is where we need to be,’” Gearhart said.
The Saints will host Charlottesville on Monday while Albemarle faces Massaponax next Wednesday on the road.
