It’s been nearly a full month since an opposing team took a game off of Western Albemarle. Back on October 15, Cave Spring earned a 3-2 victory over the Warriors.
Since then? Nobody has been able to derail or just delay a sweep at the hands of the Warriors.
That impressive stretch has vaulted the Warriors right back where they want to be — in the state tournament.
Western swept Potomac Falls in the Region II semifinals Thursday to earn a state tournament berth. Western won 25-23, 25-23 and 25-14.
It was a good sign for the Warriors when sophomore Maggie Spindel and senior setter Riley Martin came up with a pair of blocks late in game one. Spindel has emerged lately to give Western yet another option on its front line and Martin is a unlikely blocker as one of the Warriors’ shortest players. Western led by five midway through that first game, and those two points seemed to give Western a jumpstart and changed the tide that had shifted back to Potomac Falls on the strength of five straight kills by the Panthers’ Kayla Carlton.
“That was out of the ordinary — people coming through at the end of the season when we really need it,” said Western coach Jena McFaddin.
Spindel clearly built some confidence off the early block and went on to finish with four stuffs on the night.
“I just knew that I needed to put the ball away — that that was the one thing I could control in the game,” Spindel said. “So I just went up there and put it down.”
Western’s defense was superb all night as libero Marin Crowder checked in with 12 digs and Maggie Kooken had another eight. Marina Clark also had six digs, and the junior’s digs all seemed to come at key times.
“She always does, she’s definitely a great player,” McFaddin said. “I love having her in the back row, I wish I could have two liberos.”
That defense allowed Western’s offense to keep the Warriors in control, as Kooken check in with seven kills and Katie Rossberg led the attack with 10 kills. Rossberg also had three blocks.
Martin paired 27 assists and four aces with her momentum-shifting block.
Western will play Loudoun County on the road Saturday in the Region II finals before moving on to the state quarterfinals next week.
