The reason Albemarle didn’t want to go to game five in a 3-1 victory over Colonial Forge in game four Thursday night? Pretty simple.
“We wanted to finish,” said senior setter Jessica Block.
Albemarle has made finishing a way of life this season, rolling 27-0 through their schedule to give the Patriots homecourt advantage throughout the Northwest Region tournament that starts next week.
Thursday night was no different as the Patriots exploded from down 24-20 in the fourth game. The match appeared headed for a fifth game after Albemarle had jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but the Patriots reached down deep and reversed Colonial Forge’s momentum late in the fourth game. Block oversaw the run from the service line that included a big block by Sarah Woods and a couple of crucial errors by the Eagles.
“I wasn’t really thinking, I was just like ‘keep going’,” Block said.
Head coach Mark Ragland knew he was in good shape when Block, who puts her serves in play 98 percent of the time over her career, toed the line. Her final five service points that were part of a team high 15 on the night closed out the match.
“That’s a server who can put the ball wherever I want it and she also puts it there with velocity,” Ragland said. “It may not always be an ace but it usually makes the other team’s return a little out of sync.”
Particularly in games three and four, Colonial Forge did an excellent job of taking away Albemarle’s most reliable stuff, forcing the Patriots to adjust. The Patriots’ strength on the front line this season, however, is their depth, and Albemarle started getting everyone involved and took advantage of the small openings Colonial Forge gave them at the net.
Those adjustments led to five hitters putting together at least seven kills as Block fed whoever was in the right spot from her position at setter. Block finished with 37 assists and Hannah Deal led the attack with nine kills. Sarah Woods had eight kills while Savannah Morse, Erica Brown and Chelsea Woodfolk ripped off seven each.
“They really closed down a lot of our lanes for our bread and butter attack so we had to spread it around a little more,” Ragland said. “Savannah coming up with seven tonight was huge because their block is much bigger than ours.”
Albemarle had to contend all night with Hope Kelley, Forge’s powerful hitter who tallied 11 kills on the night and also led the Eagles in digs with 14.
“She’s amazing, she’s just an amazing hitter,” Ragland said. “We really just don’t matchup well with her at all. But we got through it.”
Forge also got a strong effort from Maddie Scovell, who had 10 kills, while Leandra Tranquill stepped up with four blocks.
Caroline Porco, as usual, led the Patriots in digs with 10 while Brown and Woods finished with three total blocks. Micahela Malbeouf finished with two aces
