At some point its going to get harder, but that will have to wait at least another week. The Patriots have been on absolute cruise control since September, rolling through the Jefferson District without a loss before stepping up to play in the Conference 16 tournament. In the finals against Halifax County, you’d have never known it was a playoff game were it not for the trophy presentation afterwards. The Patriots were on fire from start to finish, rolling to a 3-0 sweep of the Comets, 25-16, 25-4, 25-15.
“It was really nice to see everyone come out and play really aggressive,” said Albemarle coach Mark Ragland. “It also turned into a lot of fun too as we loosened up along the way.”
Hannah Deal had a huge game in fitting fashion as she also broke a 20-year old school record, passing Amy Knott’s (’93) mark for most aces in a season (78) with 83 when it was all said and done. Deal had 21 service points on the night and added seven aces.
“My teammates have been so encouraging and for more than a week now they’ve been saying ‘Hannah, we know you can break that record,’” Deal said. “I don’t think I would have been able to do it without their support.
Behind its usual balance up front, the Patriots only true challenge from the Comets came early in the first game as Halifax sat just two points behind at 9-7. The rest of the night was all Albemarle. The Patriots took 12 of the next 18 points to create an 8-point margin late before closing out the first set.
“It was just awesome because we came into this game looking to put everything we had into it,” Deal said. “All the energy and hard work over the last two weeks, we wanted to bring that today. It showed up in the first game where we just kept getting better and then we just really consistent after that.”
The second game was the Patriots most impressive. After falling in a 2-0 hole, Albemarle unleashed a 15-0 run that quickly became a 19-1 run. The devastating stretch saw Deal pile up the service points and aces along the way while teammates Chelsea Woodfolk and Sarah Woods did the damage in the hitting department.
The momentum from the second game carried over in the form of a 6-1 start for the Patriots in the third and final set. Up 12-5, with a 2-0 lead, Albemarle tapped into the deeper part of its bench and didn’t skip a beat as they held an 8-point lead at 20-12 and quickly closed out the match after that.
Woodfolk and Woods tied for a team high 11 kills while Deal had six of her own. Libero Taylor Bauman added 11 service points to go with her nine digs.
As for breaking illustrious records in program history, something Deal did this year, Jessica Block did last year (career service points and most service points in a season), Megan Napolitano did in 2010 (most kills in a season) — Ragland put it into pretty straight forward perspective.
“We don’t talk a lot about breaking records because we want everyone play together as a team,” Ragland. “The records come when the team plays like it should. These last few games, they’ve really bought into playing together and so I was excited that Hannah got the record tonight.”
Albemarle (25-3) is on a 15 game winning streak and will host its Division 5A North Region opener on Tuesday.
