By Allan Kha / ScrimmagePlay.com contributor
It was only a matter of pride, considering Western Albemarle and Monticello had both clinched berths in the Region II playoffs prior to Thursday evening’s Jefferson District championship match. That mattered little to the Warriors, however, as they rode their way to a comfortable 3-1 championship victory (25-19, 25-27, 25-23, 25-16).
The dominant Warriors, who also won the regular season district title as well as the majority of District championships in the past decade, were particularly effective in ball possession against the Mustangs. Western’s composure and precision allowed the team to control the general rhythm of the game, which helped the Warriors seal the championship win.
Western senior middle blocker Ana Asher was the star of the night statistically with 13 kills, five blocks, and five aces. Junior setter Riley Martin helped springboard the Warriors’ attack with 31 assists. Junior libero Marin Crowder led the defense with 12 digs.
Western coach Lance Rogers noted postgame that one of his team’s goals coming into the game was improving on ball possession, an attribute his team sees as imperative to a sustained run in regional and state postseason play.
“This game [was absolutely] about pride, just for that trophy a couple feet away from me. Both of the teams knew coming in with regional playoff berths, so we just wanted to come in tonight, play a good game, and improve. And we did that pretty well tonight.” Rogers said.
“This team has aspirations at the State level and to do that, we must continually improve. Today’s game certainly did that.”
Monticello coach John Mitchem extolled his team for its effort against Western, particularly taking pride in his team’s second-game win.
“I want to commend our girls for a great game. Coming into the match, we really wanted to key in on blocking and defense, and we did that fairly well. Western put us in some tough situations, but we responded,” Mitchem said.
“One of our team’s goals coming into the season was getting into the Regional playoffs, and the fact that we’ve checked that off is a testament to our progress so far. We have plenty more to play and we’ll focus on improving.”
Western will host a regional game next Tuesday, with the opponent to be determined. Monticello faces an away trip next Tuesday to Kettle Run for the first-round of regional play. Game time for that match is 7 p.m.
Including both the regular and postseason, The Warriors are now 131-1 in the JD during Rogers’ tenure as coach and have won 80 straight matches against the district dating back to 2005.
