Games of the Week – Oakton and TJ on the Rise
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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. Oakton Sweeps Madison…
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Continue ReadingAttended 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.
Oakton Sweeps Madison
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.
Oakton got out of the gates fast in the opener with outsides Seliz Aktuglu Seliz Aktuglu 5'9" | OH Oakton | 2024 State VA and Jocelyn Shortle Jocelyn Shortle 5'9" | OH Oakton | 2024 State VA 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 Camille Pomeroy Camille Pomeroy 6'2" | MB Madison | 2024 State VA and Aubrey Loughlin Aubrey Loughlin 6'0" | MB James Madison | 2025 State VA 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.
For game two the two liberos put on a show with their defense, digging every ball near their path. There was one rally where Sadee Gedse Sadee Gedse 5'6" | DS/L Oakton | 2025 State VA dug a hard driven spike. Sydney Pham Sydney Pham 5'3" | DS/L Madison | 2024 State VA 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 Briana Vo Briana Vo 5'4" | S James Madison | 2026 State VA 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.
Madison took the early lead in game two and seemed to have the game under control. Oakton defensive specialist Lauren Guggenmos gathered some momentum the Cougars way with a couple aces. That seemed to rally the Oakton players and their fans. A Seliz Aktuglu Seliz Aktuglu 5'9" | OH Oakton | 2024 State VA 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.
Riley Lynch Riley Lynch 6'0" | MB James Madison | 2025 State VA came in for the third game and made an impact early. Kills by Camille Pomeroy Camille Pomeroy 6'2" | MB Madison | 2024 State VA and Riley Lynch Riley Lynch 6'0" | MB James Madison | 2025 State VA gave Madison another early lead, 6-2. Warhawk outside Laila Chadwick Laila Chadwick 5'8" | DS/L James Madison | 2027 State VA 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.
Another Seliz Aktuglu Seliz Aktuglu 5'9" | OH Oakton | 2024 State VA kill from the middle position gave Oakton their first lead at 23-22. A Jocelyn Shortle Jocelyn Shortle 5'9" | OH Oakton | 2024 State VA back row laser got the Cougars to game point. Finally, a Warhawk pass too close to the net finished the sweep 25-22.
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.
Thomas Jefferson Wins Five Set Marathon with Falls Church
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 Diane McCaskill (15 kills), Ava Stewart Ava Stewart 5'8" | RS Thomas Jefferson | 2025 State VA (11 kills) and Danielle Riekse (11 kills). The Jaguars countered with Charlotte Nguyen Charlotte Nguyen 5'9" | OH Falls Church | 2024 VA with 23 kills.
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 Eli Tamayo 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.
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 Diane McCaskill kill tied the game at 26-26. Abigail Lee 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.
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.
Saint Catherines Gives Midlothian First Loss
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. Taylor Meredith Taylor Meredith MB St. Catherines | 2024 State VA had a big game for the Saints with 14 kills and 9 blocks. Bailey Loving Bailey Loving 5'8" | DS/L St. Catherines | 2026 State VA sparked the Saints with 8 aces. Anne Fielding Croft Anne Fielding Croft 5'9" | S St. Catherine's | 2025 State VA dished out 40 assists and also contributed five blocks.
Bullis Takes Down Georgetown Day
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. Angelique Desamours Angelique Desamours 5'9" | OH bullis | 2025 State VA finished off the match with an ace. Bullis was led by recent Penn State commit Alexis Ewing Alexis Ewing 6'3" | OH Bullis | 2025 State VA and Angelique on the outside. Frosh Alexa Telly Alexa Telly 6'0" | OH Bullis | 2027 State VA contributed from the middle. Jada Aksu Jada Aksu 6'0" | RS Georgetown Day | 2025 State VA led Georgetown Day with 19 kills from the right side.
With the win Bullis could finish in second place in the ISL.
Highlights
Ivey Lucas Ivey Lucas 5'7" | S Poquoson | 2025 State VA Voted National Prep Dig Player of the Week
Congrats to Ivey Lucas Ivey Lucas 5'7" | S Poquoson | 2025 State VA 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.
Chesapeake Chirps: In other action Grafton beat York in five. What drove the interest in this game was the 37 kills by Alexis Keeter to lead Grafton and the 33 kills by Ramsie Pittman to keep York in the game…. Arundel remained undefeated with a five set victory over Broadneck. Deviana Walker Deviana Walker 5'11" | OH Arundel | 2024 State VA led the charge with 13 kills. Payton Swinton Payton Swinton 5'10" | RS Arundel | 2024 State VA and Kiara Harmon Kiara Harmon 6'1" | OH Arundel | 2024 State VA contributed 12 kills each. Daisy Pentorn Daisy Pentorn 5'9" | S Arundel | 2025 State VA 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. Kennedy Spaid Kennedy Spaid 5'11" | OH James Wood | 2026 State VA led the team in kills with 15, but Brenna Corbin Brenna Corbin 5'5" | DS/L James Wood | 2026 State VA discarded her libero jersey to finish tied for second in kills with setter Paige Ahakuelo Paige Ahakuelo 5'8" | S James Wood | 2024 State VA with 9.