Loudoun County Wins Playoff

Raiders Avenge Loss, Nab Top Spot in District Tourney

by The Loudoun Extra

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Two days after its 47-match win streak was snapped in a thrilling five-game upset at Heritage, No. 2 Loudoun County got a strong performance from its hitters, led by senior Shaylin O'Connell, and used better ball control and passing to down Heritage, 31-29, 25-16, 25-21, at Park View on Saturday to win the top seed in the Virginia AA Dulles District tournament and also securing the automatic bid for the Region II tournament.

O'Connell had 15 kills and 5 blocks while Juliane Hanna added 7 kills, 6 digs, 11 points and 3 aces. Kerry Sarver finished with 20 assists and 13 points.

For the Raiders, the win provided some revenge after the upset on Thursday night.

"Well in Thursday's match we learned a lot about ourselves and things we need to work on," Loudoun County assistant coach Jarod Brown said after the match. "And it gave the girls a chance to step back and refresh."

Winning the back and forth first game was crucial for the Raiders, who were looking to halt a momentum Heritage may have carried over from the upset on Thursday night.

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Heritage Volleyball Downs Loudoun Co.

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With a lively crowd behind them, the Heritage bench celebrates the Pride's five-game win. (John McDonnell)

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Heritage's Ashley Scott drives down a point agianst Loudoun County's Emliy Vandergrift. (John McDonnell)

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Loudoun County's Kerry Sarver, left, and Juliane Hanna vie for a shot on Thursday against Heritage. (John McDonnell)

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Heritage's Ashley Scott drives a point agianst Loudoun County's Emliy Vandergrift, center, and Shaylin O'Connell, left. (John McDonnell)

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"We got behind early and were pretty much battling back, it was almost like we were climbing up hill the whole time," Brown said. "We drew even at 18 … it was really back and forth 25-all, 26-all, 27-all and it definitely was big" to win the game.

With the win, Loudoun County enters the postseason with a renewed confidence following its first loss since 2006.

"Heritage is a great team and they're going to come to play and I'm sure we'll see them again probably next week and down the road," Brown said. But "it's good to see we can still play well and still beat a team like Heritage."

By virtue of gaining an automatic berth in the Region II tournament, The Raiders will host their matches in the regional tournament as long as they keep playing. As for Heritage, they can secure the district's second Region II berth by winning the district tournament or finishing second to Loudoun County.

The district tournament begins Tuesday with four quarterfinal matches -- No. 8 Park View at No. 1 Loudoun County, No. 5 Broad Run at No. 4 Briar Woods, No. 6 Dominion at No. 3 Potomac Falls and No. 7 Freedom at No. 2 Heritage, all at 7 p.m. Semifinals are Thursday and the final is Saturday, both at Park View.

Extra Points

By Paul Tenorio and Matt Brooks