Sellman Leads Tartans to Victory; Kennedy Inspires the Colonels

There were two giant volleyball games yesterday. Holy Crossed, ranked number two in the DC area was travelling to Bishop O'Connell to play the Knights, who were ranked number three by Washington Post. Last year O'Connell beat the Tartans for the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) championship. Both teams entered play undefeated, Holy Cross at 10-0 and Bishop O'Connell at 14-0.   James Woods travelled to Millbrook to play the Pioneers. They had not defeated Millbrook in the last seven times they have played them. Again, both teams came into the match undefeated, each with 10-0 records. The Pioneers were fortunate enough to have two frosh added to their 2022 roster that would create a huge influence in the game.   Holy Cross Versus Bishop O'Connell   [player_tooltip player_id='180288' first='Emerson' last='Sellman'] showed why she is one of the best left sides in the country. Her 30 kills and 12 digs gave the Tartans the match in five sets. She took control of the fifth set with at least 8 kills to finish off the Knights. Her high pulse scream after one kill had the Tartan players rally around her in celebration and certainly impacted the momentum of the match.   It was a tightly fought contest, with each team getting breaks to eek out victories. In the first set the Knights had a 24-23 lead with Holy Cross serving. The serve went wide and the Knights celebrated a 25-23 opening set win.   In game two the Knights struggled passing and got behind early. They got better as the game progressed, but it was too little too late in the 25-18 loss.   The third game the Knights played better. They had serve and a 24-23 lead. [player_tooltip player_id='212889' first='Hannah' last='Kotb'] served, the ball hit the top of the net, took a short trip along the net and dropped untouched on the Holy Cross side to give the Knights the 25-23 win.   Game four the Knights had their opportunity. They had a 23-22 lead. A good out of system set could have put them one point from winning the match, but the set was inside. An attempted tip hit the net and the score was tied. Holy Cross served resulting in a shanked pass and the lead. A Sellman kill ended the set, giving Holy Cross the 25-23 win.   Game five is when [player_tooltip player_id='180288' first='Emerson' last='Sellman'] took over. The best often do that. She got in a zone and it was lights out for the Knights. Whether it was front row or back row, setter Jaylyn Simon kept feeding Sellman for the kills. A final kill gave the Tartans a 15-6 win.   [player_tooltip player_id='181101' first='Daniella' last='Suarez'] was the other outside for Holy Cross. Her 5'9" height does not match the 6'4" of Sellman, but she hits the ball hard and also accumulated a number of kills to contribute to the victory.   The Knights [player_tooltip player_id='181098' first='Grace' last='Maria'] kept the Knights in the game. She had at least 59 swings to accumulate 27 kills of her own in the loss, despite sometimes seeing three Holy Cross players jump up to block. She also played excellent defense putting together 20 digs to deny Sellman a number of kills. She was also active on the serve/receive side, popping four aces and passing at a 2.57 rate. The rest of the team passed at a 1.66 rate. [player_tooltip player_id='180296' first='Madison' last='Bowser'] also dominated across the net, stacking together 18 kills and finishing with three blocks.   James Woods vs Millbrook   This was a battle for Winchester and first place in the Northwest Division. Both teams were ranked in my top ten with James Woods sitting at six and Millbrook sitting just below them at eight. The two frosh for James Woods proved to be the difference makers in the game, giving them the victory in four, 25-19, 25-18, 21-25 and 25-21.   [player_tooltip player_id='181302' first='Kennedy' last='Spaid'] led the way with 14 kills. The 5'10" frosh has been a shining light for the Pioneers all season, leading the team in kills with 126 and putting together a .335 hitting percentage. Second on the team in kills was her beach partner 5'4" [player_tooltip player_id='181280' first='Brenna' last='Corbin'] with 12 kills and 20 digs.   Brenna brings the beach game indoors, relying more on shots than velocity to find the court. She can use hands off the block or find the spots on the court that are not defended, just as she does on the beach. Despite her lack of height Brenna is second on the team in kills. For Blue Ridge she plays libero so this is a different role for her.   According to the Winchester Star, the gym was packed with students screaming from both sides of the bleachers. "She's a freshman" was chanted first for Brenna when she put together six kills in set one. [player_tooltip player_id='181302' first='Kennedy' last='Spaid'] received those chants in set two after her six kills.   Millwood was not lacking in stars. [player_tooltip player_id='181177' first='Madison' last='Koeller'] dished out 40 assists to lead both teams. Berkeley Konrady strung together 13 kills and Grace Behneke led the team with 11 digs. The Pioneers also had their own frosh sensation, with libero [player_tooltip player_id='218149' first='Giselle' last='Norris'] scampering to get 12 digs.   The two teams will meet again for the last game of the season at the James Woods facility on October 20th.   Chesapeake Chirps: Since this is a game report, some other games of note. Langley kept on its undefeated runl with a 3-0 sweep of Marshall. These two teams played earlier in the season and Langley won in four....Oakton beat James Madison in four in a big Concorde District match....Flint Hill dominated Paul VI in a sweep. All three games were recorded as 25-8. This was two days after they won their tournament, sweeping five teams. Mickhaila Murray was voted the MVP of the tournament, while outside [player_tooltip player_id='181099' first='Sydney' last='Bryant'], setter [player_tooltip player_id='180283' first='Natalie' last='Nguyen'] and frosh libero [player_tooltip player_id='212883' first='Evie' last='Huang'] were voted to the first team.

There were two giant volleyball games yesterday. Holy Crossed, ranked number two in the DC area was travelling to Bishop O'Connell to play the Knights, who were ranked number three by Washington Post. Last year O'Connell beat the Tartans for the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) championship. Both teams entered play undefeated, Holy Cross at 10-0 and Bishop O'Connell at 14-0.