The Rockets Win the Battle of Bethesda

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The last couple years <strong>Holy Cross</strong> has won the Battle of Bethesda. Last year the Tartans beat the Rockets in the finals. The hope was that this year would be different. That hope did not look too promising when <strong>Bethesda Chevy Chase</strong> upset <strong>Richmond Montgomery </strong>in three in their very first match of the morning. And it looked even bleaker when they were facing elimination from the gold bracket match by Churchill in the finals of pool play, down 10-8 in game three. However, somehow everything worked itself out in the end. A little bit of grit, a dash of hustle and perhaps a pinch of fortune went their way.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It all began with pool play. The first pool consisted of Holy Cross, <strong>Walter Johnson,</strong> <strong>Whitman</strong> and <strong>Gaithersburg</strong>. Both Holy Cross and Walter Johnson swept their opponents in pool play and when they faced each other Holy Cross won convincingly in two. The play seemed to go as scripted.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["397547"],"_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":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-66fa118c8f358"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Mariya put together a very good tournament to up her status in the rankings. She proved a thorn in the Richard Montgomery side with a number of kills, a few blocks and solid six rotation play.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>She lists at 5'10" with the physical strength to put some mustard on the ball. Her listed approach jump is 9'5". A six rotation player, Mariya comes with some versatility. While her strength is the left side she can also hit right side and can be used as a back row defensive specialist/libero. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On the other side of the net it was complete chaos. In the first set the Rockets dominated <strong>Bethesda Chevy Chase </strong>(BCC) 25-18. In the second set the Rockets could not stop <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='397547' first='Mariya' last='Carson']</strong> as she led the Barons to a 25-22 win. She strung together a number of kills, including the final one to give the Barons the win. In the third set the Rockets suffered from poor passing and three consecutive hitting errors to put themselves down 13-5. <strong> [player_tooltip player_id='397547' first='Mariya' last='Carson'] </strong>put them a point away from victory with a block and a poor pass by the Rockets gave the Barons the 15-8 win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the second match favored <strong>Churchill</strong> faced <strong>Clarksburg</strong>. Just like the first match Churchill won the first set but it took a couple kills from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='397548' first='Sonia' last='Breslawec']</strong> to keep them ahead 24-23 and 25-24. She finished the set with an ace serve for a 26-24 win. Numerous hitting errors plagued Churchill in the second set to put them in the hole early. Steady play from libero <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='438118' first='Amelia' last='Cheng']</strong>, setter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='438058' first='Vivian' last='Ngan']</strong> and left side <strong>Addy Liu</strong> kept the Coyotes ahead. A final hitting error into the net gave Clarksburg a 25-20 win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Churchill seemed to have the third set under control racing out to 8-3 and 9-5 leads. <strong>Addy Liu</strong> strung together three kills to put the Coyotes to within one at 11-10. Two more <strong>Addy Liu </strong>kills put the Coyotes up 14-13. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='438058' first='Vivian' last='Ngan']</strong> ended the match with an ace serve for a 15-13 win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With the top two seeds now strung with a loss each it came down to them playing the final match of pool play. A Richard Montgomery win would put them in second to face Holy Cross in a semi-final game while BCC would finish first to face Walter Johnson. A Churchill win would put them first in their pool while BCC plays Holy Cross. In other words, a loss by either team would knock one of the top two seeds down to the silver bracket.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["235749"],"_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":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-66fa118c8f3b9"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">The class of 2025 carries some pretty strong liberos. Only two other liberos ranking ahead of Kareena have yet to commit. Normally, she shares the libero role with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='306543' first='Sherry' last='Ye']</strong>, but with her absence Kareena took over the back row responsibilities. Kareena made some tremendous digs, passes the ball well and brings a tough serve to the court.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">The one trait I like about Kareena is her attitude on the court. She appears to have a quiet confidence about her. You can tell from her play that you are getting full effort from her.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Lots of liberos on the landscape but few better than Kareena. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Again the Rockets looked a little ragged in the first set, missing five serves and continuing their hitting errors. Churchill got excellent back row play from libero <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='235749' first='Kareena' last='Rathnam']</strong> and middle <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='438053' first='Lucille' last='Deraleau']</strong> to take a commanding lead. The 6'3" middle <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='465322' first='Siyena' last='Fitsum']</strong> blocked two balls late in the game, the last giving Churchill a 23-17 lead. A poor out of system set too close to the net ended the first set in the Bulldogs favor 25-20.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Churchill made their share of hitting and service errors in set two to make things easy for the Rockets, including allowing an <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='491007' first='Ana' last='Djordjevic']</strong> dig over the net to land harmlessly in the center of the Bulldog court to give the Rockets an 18-16 lead. This was after <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='346818' first='Charlotte' last='Deraleau']</strong> served four points to turn a 12-17 deficit to 16-17. A block by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='412056' first='Elizabeth' last='Mitchell']</strong> and a second roof from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='309030' first='Corinne' last='Howard']</strong> gave the Rockets a 24-18 lead. A Bulldog hitting error closed out the set 25-18.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The third set the Rockets jumped out to an early 5-1 lead courtesy of three kills from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='235748' first='Ema' last='Djordjevic']</strong> and two by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='412056' first='Elizabeth' last='Mitchell'].</strong> After a side out <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='346818' first='Charlotte' last='Deraleau']</strong> continued her torrid serving with three straight aces to put Churchill back in the game at 5-5. After that no team could develop a lead of more than two points. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='235748' first='Ema' last='Djordjevic']</strong> put one down to give the Rockets a 14-13 lead and a Bulldog hitting error ended the game 15-13,</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Richard Montgomery win turned the semi-final into the finals for the most part. These were the two number one seeds in the tournament. Both are ranked in our top twenty. Holy Cross started off fast with strong offensive performances from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='235324' first='Rowan' last='Johnson'],</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181304' first='Sarah' last='Jeremias']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='536721' first='Ana' last='Woods']</strong>. With those three playing well the Tartans jumped out to a 23-20 lead and appeared to have set one under wraps. Not so after the Rockets got serve. <strong>Bella Brennan </strong>went back to serve and rallied the team to four points. An ace, a <strong>Hadley Morgan</strong> block and two [player_tooltip player_id='412056' first='Elizabeth' last='Mitchell'] kills after a time out gave the Rockets a shocking 25-23 win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The second set the Tartans came out strong again, clutching onto a 24-19 lead. A side out put the score at 24-20. This time it was [player_tooltip player_id='478765' first='Amy' last='Ye'] with five points serving that brought the Rockets back. A [player_tooltip player_id='536719' first='Katherine' last='Mitchell'] and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='309030' first='Corinne' last='Howard']</strong> combined block got the momentum back. [player_tooltip player_id='235748' first='Ema' last='Djordjevic'] pulled the team within two with a kill to make it 24-22. After a time out a [player_tooltip player_id='536719' first='Katherine' last='Mitchell'] kill and [player_tooltip player_id='478765' first='Amy' last='Ye'] ace tied the score. Another kill by [player_tooltip player_id='235748' first='Ema' last='Djordjevic'] put them up by one. [player_tooltip player_id='478765' first='Amy' last='Ye'] missed her serve to level the score and give the serve back to Holy Cross.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sometimes you need the ball to bounce your way. [player_tooltip player_id='491007' first='Ana' last='Djordjevic'] made a tremendous dig of an <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='622282' first='Emerson' last='Wolfe']</strong> attempted kill. [player_tooltip player_id='536719' first='Katherine' last='Mitchell'] attempted to pass a free ball over the net but it hit the tape of the net, then trickled over and fell to the floor on the Tartan side. Ana dug another attempted spike, this one from [player_tooltip player_id='536721' first='Ana' last='Woods'] and sister Ema tipped the ball over the block. [player_tooltip player_id='472384' first='Kate' last='Bickel'] was there with the dig, [player_tooltip player_id='181304' first='Sarah' last='Jeremias'] spiked a back row set, [player_tooltip player_id='309030' first='Corinne' last='Howard'] was able to get her hands on the ball but it went sideways on the Rocket side of the net. [player_tooltip player_id='412056' first='Elizabeth' last='Mitchell'] was able to get the ball up and [player_tooltip player_id='309030' first='Corinne' last='Howard'] pushed the ball over on two. Holy Cross scrambled to get the ball up but after a couple touches it fell to the floor. The game was over 27-25.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Bethesda Chevy Chase</strong> was able to beat <strong>Walter Johnson</strong> in the other semi-final match, setting up another match with <strong>Richard Montgomery</strong>. Again, just like the first match of the day the Rockets beat the Bulldogs pretty easily 25-18. The second set proved a battle with BCC up at one point 24-21. This time the Rockets battled back. They scored three to tie the game at 24-24 but lost the next point to give the Bulldogs another set point at 25-24. [player_tooltip player_id='235748' first='Ema' last='Djordjevic'] buried two kills and [player_tooltip player_id='536719' first='Katherine' last='Mitchell'] added another to close out the 27-25 win. Ema put together a triple double in the final with 10 kills, 11 assists and 10 digs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->