Tough Victory Helps Raiders End Season Undefeated

By Paul Tenorio

Sunday, October 28, 2007

All season long seniors Marguerite Hanna and Morgan Petkovich had led the team offensively, dominating stat lines and giving emotional lifts to their teammates with powerful points at key moments. On their senior night Thursday against Heritage, the story was no different.

Hanna (10 kills, 11 digs, 4 blocks) and Villanova-bound Petkovich (8 kills, 11 digs, 6 service points) once again led the Raiders to victory, completing No. 1 Loudoun County’s regular season with a 20-0 record. The match was by no means an easy victory for the Raiders, as Heritage refused to quit and kept all three games close, but in the end the talent at Loudoun County was too much to overcome.

"We didn’t want this to be an upset, and it really could have been because with this being [senior night] there were so many emotions that we had to push aside," Hanna said. "Heritage played the best I've seen them play, and it was huge for us to get the win."

The two teams battled back and forth throughout the match, with neither team leading by more than six points. In the first game, Loudoun County fell behind 8-7 before rallying to take a 20-15 lead. But Heritage fought back and pulled to 22-21 before kills from junior Shaylin O'Connell (9 kills, 4 digs, 3 blocks) and sophomore Julianne Hanna gave the Raiders a 25-23 win.

Loudoun County then used the serves of junior Katie Martin to jump to a 17-11 lead in the second game, pulling away to win, 25-20, behind the strong play of Marguerite Hanna, Petkovich and O'Connell.

They closed out the match in a thrilling third game that had both student sections screaming and cheering. The Raiders led 20-16 when Heritage took a timeout and fought back to tie the score at 23. But Loudoun County won it on a final point that had players from both teams diving on the floor to reach the volleyball.

With the win, the Raiders secure an automatic bid to the Region II tournament and most probably a No. 1 seed in the playoffs, which would mean a first-round bye.

"This win was extremely important for so many reasons," Petkovich said. "Especially for regionals, because it gives us a high ranking. And it just gives us a lot of confidence going into the playoffs with a 20-0 record."

For Raiders Coach Jenica Matthias, seeing her seniors step up for the team once again, even at a time when the high emotions of senior night could have primed the team for an upset, is no surprise.

"It's going to be [the seniors] that pull us through," Matthias said. "And that's why I said to our girls, look to your seniors. Go to your seniors because they will make plays for you. And that’s what happened."

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