Games of the Week – Oakton and TJ on the Rise

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Attended a couple games in which first place fora couple Regions were on the line. Below details the results of those games. Also, a report of other games that were critical for the standings in each Region.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Oakton Sweeps Madison</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Oakton had already upset the previously undefeated Chantilly in five. Next up on the schedule Madison. Chantilly had already beaten Madison in five. Both Madison and Chantilly were ranked in the Prep Dig top twenty. Oakton got off to a slow start to their season, losing three of their first five. A win would put them in first place in the Concorde Region and perhaps some consideration for the Top 20.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Oakton got out of the gates fast in the opener with outsides <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='209789' first='Seliz' last='Aktuglu'] </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='209792' first='Jocelyn' last='Shortle']</strong> creating terror on the Warhawk defense. Both hitters listed at 5'9" fired missiles to the floor from both the middle and outside. The Warhawks could provide no answers to the varied attacks. Madison countered with their middles <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='183606' first='Camille' last='Pomeroy']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181314' first='Aubrey' last='Loughlin']</strong> for their early offense. The outside duo for Oakton proved too much for the Warhawks and they rolled to an easy 25-16 opening win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For game two the two liberos put on a show with their defense, digging every ball near their path. There was one rally where <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='235291' first='Sadee' last='Gedse'] </strong>dug a hard driven spike. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='209800' first='Sydney' last='Pham']</strong> countered by digging an Oakton return spike. Gedse responded with a third straight dig of a hard driven ball. Madison finished the rally with a [player_tooltip player_id='455177' first='Briana' last='Vo'] brilliantly placed setter dump that landed untouched in the middle of the court. That rally got the Oakton fans applauding even though the point went against them.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Madison took the early lead in game two and seemed to have the game under control. Oakton defensive specialist <strong>Lauren Guggenmos</strong> gathered some momentum the Cougars way with a couple aces. That seemed to rally the Oakton players and their fans. A <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='209789' first='Seliz' last='Aktuglu']</strong> ace tied the game 23-23, the first time Oakton was not behind in the game. Madison called a timeout, but Seliz finished off the game with two more aces to give Oakton a 25-23 win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='230817' first='Riley' last='Lynch']</strong> came in for the third game and made an impact early. Kills by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='183606' first='Camille' last='Pomeroy']</strong> and<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='230817' first='Riley' last='Lynch']</strong> gave Madison another early lead, 6-2. Warhawk outside <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='265167' first='Laila' last='Chadwick']</strong> did not appear to get a lot of sets her way. Oakton scored three straight points on rallies to tie the game 22-22. Not once did Chadwick get an opportunity for a kill while the Warhawks lost those three points.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Another <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='209789' first='Seliz' last='Aktuglu']</strong> kill from the middle position gave Oakton their first lead at 23-22. A <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='209792' first='Jocelyn' last='Shortle'] </strong>back row laser got the Cougars to game point. Finally, a Warhawk pass too close to the net finished the sweep 25-22.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Oakton will next have to go on the road to face both Chantilly and Madison. Meanwhile, the standings for the Concorde Region sit at Oakton 4-0, Chantilly 3-1 and Madison 3-2 with South Lakes at 2-3. South Lakes has lost to all three front runners but did take Oakton to five. Anything can still happen in this Region.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["181310"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6516fa5f94b10"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Thomas Jefferson Wins Five Set Marathon with Falls Church</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It may not be the strongest of Regions, but do not tell Thomas Jefferson or Falls Church as they battled for the top spot in the National Region. The three big hitters for the Colonials were <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='582241' first='Diane' last='McCaskill']</strong> (15 kills), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181310' first='Ava' last='Stewart']</strong> (11 kills) and <strong>Danielle Riekse</strong> (11 kills). The Jaguars countered with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='233451' first='Charlotte' last='Nguyen']</strong> with 23 kills. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Falls Church won the first 25-23 on the clutch hitting of Charlotte. Thomas Jefferson took the second 25-22. It appeared that TJ was in control in game three but<strong> Eli Tamayo</strong> served seven points on serve to tie the game at 24-24. Two TJ hitting errors ended the game at 26-24. It seemed like a crushing loss for TJ.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>They bounced back to take another big lead in game four. Just like the previous set the Jaguars roared back to tie the game 24-24. TJ showed enough poise not to break. A <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='582241' first='Diane' last='McCaskill']</strong> kill tied the game at 26-26. <strong>Abigail Lee</strong> followed with an ace serve and McCaskill finished the game off with another kill to give the Colonials a well fought 28-26 win to stay alive.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Game five was all TJ. They jumped out to an early 9-2 lead and never looked back, eventually winning 15 -8. The standings for the National Region show TJ on top at 8-0, Falls Church just behind them at 8-1 and Hayfield still in the race at 7-2. Hayfield lost to both Falls Church and TJ in back to back sweeps.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Saint Catherines Gives Midlothian First Loss</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It was not a Regional game, but Saint Catherines pulled off a five set win over the Class 5 state champion Midlothian Trojans 20-25, 28-26, 25-20, 18-25 and 15-13. For the Trojans it was their first loss of the season. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='464566' first='Taylor' last='Meredith']</strong> had a big game for the Saints with 14 kills and 9 blocks. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='322106' first='Bailey' last='Loving']</strong> sparked the Saints with 8 aces. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='297528' first='Anne' last='Fielding Croft']</strong> dished out 40 assists and also contributed five blocks.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Bullis Takes Down Georgetown Day</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bullis downed Georgetown Day in four. The first and last games were 25-23 bookend wins for the Bulldogs. In between the teams split with the Hoppers winning the second game 25-10. Bullis bounced back to take the third 25-17. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='183589' first='Angelique' last='Desamours']</strong> finished off the match with an ace. Bullis was led by recent Penn State commit <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181300' first='Alexis' last='Ewing']</strong> and Angelique on the outside. Frosh <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='377396' first='Alexa' last='Telly']</strong> contributed from the middle. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181763' first='Jada' last='Aksu']</strong> led Georgetown Day with 19 kills from the right side.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With the win Bullis could finish in second place in the ISL. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["326540"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6516fa5f94b70"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='326540' first='Ivey' last='Lucas'] Voted National Prep Dig Player of the Week </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Congrats to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='326540' first='Ivey' last='Lucas'] </strong>for winning National Prep Dig Player of the Week. Ivey surpassed 500 assists in only her second year of setting for Poquoson. In her winning week she accumulated 39 assists, 17 digs, 9 aces and 7 kills to sweep two higher ranked opponents. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Chesapeake Chirps:</strong> In other action Grafton beat York in five. What drove the interest in this game was the 37 kills by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='233007' first='Alexis' last='Keeter']</strong> to lead Grafton and the 33 kills by <strong>Ramsie Pittman</strong> to keep York in the game.... Arundel remained undefeated with a five set victory over Broadneck. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='319715' first='Deviana' last='Walker']</strong> led the charge with 13 kills. [player_tooltip player_id='309025' first='Payton' last='Swinton'] and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='477413' first='Kiara' last='Harmon']</strong> contributed 12 kills each. <strong> [player_tooltip player_id='284195' first='Daisy' last='Pentorn']</strong> got credited with 40 assists. The win put Arundel in first in the Ann Arundel County Region, while Broadneck and Meade sit in second at 3-1... James Wood took down Millbrook for a second time, losing the first set then winning the next three. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181302' first='Kennedy' last='Spaid'] </strong>led the team in kills with 15, but <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181280' first='Brenna' last='Corbin']</strong> discarded her libero jersey to finish tied for second in kills with setter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='180282' first='Paige' last='Ahakuelo'] </strong>with 9. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->