The March to the State Championships Begins

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Below are some of the playoff games to note from this week:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Rock Ridge </strong>vs <strong>James Woods</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This was a Class 4 C Battle. Rock Ridge has yet to appear in a State volleyball championship, one of the newer high schools that opened in 2014. James Wood is an older school, opening for classes in 1955. They last appeared in the State championship in 2019 but have never won one. The winner of this match advances to the State Championship.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rock Ridge started out strong, winning the opening match 27-25. James Wood came back with a vengeance. After a Rock Ridge time out at 22-22 the Colonels went on to score the final three points to win that game 25-22 and sink the Phoenix in the two after it 25-13 and 25-15.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>James Wood played an impressive defense with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='239320' first='Carsyn' last='Vincent'] </strong>scrambling to pick up 27 digs. Five other players had 10 or more digs. Rock Ridge kept on attempting the kills but the Colonels kept on bringing the ball back. Vincent also spent her time hitting the seams with her serves, leading the team in aces with five.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181280' first='Brenna' last='Corbin']</strong> is listed at just 5'5" and normally plays libero for her travel team. She hits outside for the Colonels and knows how to paint the lines with her hits, leading the team in kills with 17. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181302' first='Kennedy' last='Spaid'] </strong>normally leads the team in kills, but for this game she was relatively quiet with just 9 kills.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Colonels have two middles that are not giants in their field. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='242037' first='Ashlynn' last='Spence'] </strong>is listed at 5'8" while<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='239321' first='Lexi' last='Taylor']</strong> is just 5'5". Spence was tied for second in kills with 9, including a rocket that was buried in front of the ten foot line. She also had the game winner in game two that set in motion the collapse of Rock Ridge. Lexi powered her way to seven kills. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='180282' first='Paige' last='Ahakuelo'] </strong>is a smooth, athletic setter that makes it look effortless as she feeds the ball to the various areas of the court. She also played some right side and showed she can put some velocity on the ball, finishing the game with seven kills. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='180286' first='Hannah' last='McCullough']</strong> is the other setter and at 5'3" is taken out once she hits the front row. She moves quickly to the ball and is very consistent with her location.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rock Ridge has two strong outsides in <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='209791' first='Grace' last='Tucker'] </strong>and<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='242038' first='Sidney' last='Powell'].</strong> Sidney appears taller than her listed 5'9" height. She can reach high and hit the ball hard, but Tuesday night the hitting was a bit inconsistent. [player_tooltip player_id='209791' first='Grace' last='Tucker'] is the other outside, the person setter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='238098' first='Ankita' last='Kamath'] </strong>goes to when she wants a kill. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ankita has the soft hands that gently carries the ball just behind the net. She stands just 5'5", which can create match up problems when she is in the front row. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181111' first='Annika' last='Engen']</strong> plays the middle and at 5'10' is the tallest player on the Rock Ridge roster. She runs some slides to the right side and hits higher sets in the middle. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Other Tuesday Night Action</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Forest Park</strong> got swept by <strong>Colonial Forge </strong>when they played their opener earlier this year. Colonial Forge won the first two games 25-13 and 25-17 and it appeared like another sweep. Forest Park roared back and did the reverse sweep, wining the last three games 25-17, 25-22 and 15-8.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181237' first='Zoe' last='Strachan']</strong> (pictured below) led the team with 17 kills. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='209180' first='Jasmine' last='Okeoma']</strong> added nine kills and also stifled the Forge offense with three solo blocks and five shared blocks. <img class="wp-image-189730" style="width: 150px" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/04/Zoe.jpg" alt=""> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Dominion </strong>is a young team filled with sophomores, but they gained some important experience with a five set victory over <strong>Millbrook</strong>. Dominion won the fourth game 25-14 and used that momentum to win game number five 15-13. One of those youngsters, sophomore <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='240027' first='Kaitlyn' last='Demitz']</strong> finished the game off with her 18th kill of the match. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Woodson had a balanced attack with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='210539' first='Emma' last='Gardner']</strong> picking up 15 kills, and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='233011' first='Maura' last='Fay']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='469251' first='Nora' last='Gilmer']</strong> knocking down 13 each. But they faced too much <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181205' first='Helen' last='Frankovich']</strong>, who was almost the entire offense for Justice, finishing the game with 31 kills. Justice won the final game 15-13. Woodson Libero <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='233014' first='Stella' last='Gilligan']</strong> shagged down 31 digs in the loss.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Thursday Night Action</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I had hoped to see <strong>Langley</strong> play <strong>Oakton</strong> but a two and a half five set match prevented that from happening. See the Chesapeake Chirps for those results. Langley prevailed over Oakton in four and will advance to the States. They will play Chantilly in the finals of the Class 6 D Regionals. Chantilly swept Marshall to also qualify for the States.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The big upset occurred in the Class 6B where Forest Park won in five over the number one seeded Battlefield Bobcats, 17-25, 27-25, 25-17, 16-25, 16-14. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181237' first='Zoe' last='Strachan']</strong> again led the charge with 18 kills. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='209180' first='Jasmine' last='Okeoma']</strong> contributed five blocks. Forest Park will go to States for the first time since 2013. First, they have a fourth match of the year against their Cardinal District rival Colgan in the Class 6B regional final. Forest Park has lost to Colgan all three times they have played this season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the Class 6C regionals all the winning teams brought out their brooms. <strong>Robinson</strong> advances with a sweep over <strong>Lake Braddock </strong>and <strong>West Potomac</strong> swept <strong>Hayfield</strong>. <strong>Alexandria City </strong>swept <strong>Justice </strong>while <strong>West Springfield </strong>swept<strong> Edison</strong>. Robinson will now face West Potomac while Alexandria City goes against West Springfield in semi-final matches. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In Class 5 D <strong>Riverside</strong> swept Riverbend to advance to the semifinals. They will play<strong> Patrick Henry</strong>, who won in four over <strong>North Stafford</strong>. The other semifinal match will see <strong>Massaponax</strong> do battle with <strong>Briar Woods</strong>. Massaponax won in four over <strong>Independence</strong> and Briar Woods swept <strong>Albemarle</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the Class 4C final <strong>James Wood </strong>won a five set thriller over <strong>Dominion</strong>, 14-25, 25-18, 25-18, 17-25, 15-9. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='180282' first='Paige' last='Ahakuelo']</strong> (pictured above) achieved a rare triple double with ten kills, 17 digs and 23 assists. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181302' first='Kennedy' last='Spaid']</strong> finished with 16 kills and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181280' first='Brenna' last='Corbin']</strong> collected 13 kills. The two frosh combined for 29 of the 55 kills for the Colonels. Both James Wood and Dominion advance to State.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Chesapeake Chirps</strong>: In a WCAC semifinal match <strong>Bishop O'Connell</strong> rallied to beat St. Johns in five 22-25, 25-18, 17-25, 25-21, 15-6. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='212889' first='Hannah' last='Kotb']</strong> scraped up 33 digs. The sophomore started game five with two aces and six points with her serve to put the Knights up early 6-0. Hannah has been turning it on in the playoffs. During the regular season her passer rating was 1.8 with an average of two shanks per match. During the two playoff wins her passer rating is at an almost pristine 2.5 with just one shank in two matches. Frosh <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='238356' first='Morgan' last='Reeves']</strong> finished the game with 23 kills for the Cadets. O'Connell will play <strong>Holy Cross </strong>on Sunday in the finals of the WCAC at Elizabeth Seton. Holy Cross beat <strong>Good Counsel </strong>in four in their semi-final match....In the Independent School League <strong>Flint Hill</strong> plays <strong>Potomac</strong> and <strong>Georgetown Day </strong>does battle with <strong>Episcopal</strong> in their conference playoff matches. The finals will be played Sunday at Madeira High School. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->