Hidden Valley Shows Fortitude in Albemarle Tournament Win

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hidden Valley won the Albemarle tournament, defeating two undefeated teams to accomplish that feat. The fact they won the tournament was nice. It was how they won the tournament that really stands out. At many times during the final two matches a loss stood in front of them, which would have eliminated them from grasping the championship trophy. Each time they pulled themselves together and found a way to win. A true character building performance.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The character building began with their final pool match going against the undefeated Briar Woods. The winner would go on to the championship match to play the winner of the second pool. The loser would have to compete in the second place match to determine third place. Hidden Valley won the first set 25-16. Briar Woods came back to win the second set 25-19.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Briar Woods matched their two tallest players <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='237667' first='Skyler' last='Riggio']</strong> and <strong>CeCe Brown</strong> to block against <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='196556' first='Caleigh' last='Ponn']</strong> to neutralize her attacks. It seemed to create challenges for Ponn, but she prides herself on finding the open areas of the court. In game three the Falcons jumped out to a 12-9 lead. A <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='196556' first='Caleigh' last='Ponn']</strong> kill gave the Titans serve and shortened the deficit to 10-12. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='464576' first='Sophie' last='Arnold']</strong> strung together three good serves to put the Titans ahead 13-12. The Falcons duo of Riggio and Brown blocked the next swing from Ponn, tying the game at 13-13. In one of her biggest moments of the tournament <strong>Chloe Muscaro</strong> blocked an attempted Falcon kill to put the Titans up by one with serve. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='233482' first='Lauren' last='Whitaker'] </strong>went back to serve and floated a ball just over the net to drop in front of the passer for an ace and a 15-13 win. A wild celebration began. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Normally, after winning an emotional match their tends to be a letdown. This seemed to occur in the first set of the finals when Riverbend trampled over Hidden Valley 25-19. The 6'3" James Madison commit <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='309022' first='Peri' last='Linterman']</strong> blocked <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='196556' first='Caleigh' last='Ponn']</strong> for the final point. Peri stood out as a dominant force against the smaller Titan block, achieving kill after kill with her quick middles.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A sluggish start began with the second set as well. The Titans fell behind 17-12. <strong>Shae Torrence </strong>provided a lift by serving six points to give the Titans their first lead. The game turned into a tennis match after that. Neither team could earn a point on serve. Rallies were long. Each point rewarded with incredible play. Riverbend missed an opportunity to close it out with two match points, once at 24-23 and the other at 25-24. A couple deep attempted kills gave Hidden Valley new life each time.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With the score tied 25-25 <strong>Shae Torrence</strong> came up big again with an ace. The set ended 27-25 after a number of exchanges across the net finally ended with a back row attack by Riverbend into the net. More character building for Hidden Valley.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='309022' first='Peri' last='Linterman'] </strong>dominated set three early with a number of kills. Once she left the front row Hidden Valley turned the tide. The Falcons could not create an offense to stop Hidden Valley from losing serve. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='196556' first='Caleigh' last='Ponn']</strong> went back to serve with Hidden Valley up 9-7. She finished the game with six points on serve, including two aces. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["453965"],"_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-64fe684252583"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>The Third Place Match</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Briar Woods defeated Western Albermarle 25-21, 25-22 for third place. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='237668' first='Shannon' last='Callaghan']</strong> took charge in the middle with a number of kills. <strong>Olivia Wagner</strong> produced three aces to turn a 10-12 set one deficit into a 13-12 lead. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='237667' first='Skyler' last='Riggio']</strong> produced some big "Kaboom" hits from the right side while another lefthander <strong>Janessens Arabia</strong> used her swing from the left side. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='453965' first='Taylor' last='Hansen']</strong> also had some big hits from the left side. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the second set libero <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='238365' first='Molly' last='Gardner']</strong> served two points to break a 21-21 tie. A <strong>Juliana Murphy</strong> kill brought the Warriors to within one, but they failed to take advantage. A net serve made it 24-22 followed by a hitting error gave Briar Woods the win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["237667"],"_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-64fe6842525da"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>All Tournament team</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>MVP - <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='196556' first='Caleigh' last='Ponn']</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Setter - <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='235285' first='Calli' last='Anderson']</strong> (Hidden Valley), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='397536' first='Aubrey' last='Parker']</strong> (Riverbend)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Left Sides - <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='180289' first='Lilah' last='Stevens']</strong> (Stone Bridge), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='196556' first='Caleigh' last='Ponn'] </strong>(Hidden Valley), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='309023' first='Allison' last='Lach']</strong> (Riverbend), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='464576' first='Sophie' last='Arnold']</strong> (Hidden Valley)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Middle - <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='309022' first='Peri' last='Linterman']</strong> (Riverbend), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='464583' first='Natalie' last='Rocco']</strong> (Western Albemarle), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='237668' first='Shannon' last='Callaghan']</strong> (Briar Woods)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Libero - <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='223897' first='Amelia' last='Tomlinson']</strong> (Western Albemarle), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='233482' first='Lauren' last='Whitaker']</strong> (Hidden Valley)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Right Side - <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='237667' first='Skyler' last='Riggio']</strong> (Briar Woods)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The MVP race came down to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='196556' first='Caleigh' last='Ponn']</strong> or <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='309022' first='Peri' last='Linterman']</strong>. In the end Caleigh closed out the game with her serves to win the tournament.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two excellent setters who ran a 5/1 for their team. Calli from the class of 2025 and Aubrey from the class of 2026. Aubrey stands 5'11" and exhibits tremendous potential. After her performance she should rise from her number 70 ranking.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A number of new players also stood out. A separate piece will identify those players later this week. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='309023' first='Allison' last='Lach']</strong> from the class of 2024 and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='464576' first='Sophie' last='Arnold']</strong> from the class of 2025 really opened some eyes to earn a spot on the all-tournament team. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Right side and Clemson commit <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='237667' first='Skyler' last='Riggio']</strong> proved tough to stop. Her lefthanded swing brought many balls untouched to the floor. She also played six rotations. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Chesapeake Chirps</strong> - Last year <strong>Wakefield </strong>finished a respectable 9-7. With their win over <strong>McLean</strong> they have moved to 5-0 to begin the young season. Their big game will be in a couple weeks when they face <strong>Langley</strong>...,The <strong>StoneBridge Cavaliers</strong> had a monstrous five set win over <strong>Norfolk Academy</strong>. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='478383' first='Amelia' last='Matson']</strong> finished the game with 31 kills. They pulled off the reverse sweep in winning the last three sets. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->