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Sweep sensation for Raiders
Loudoun County made short work of its three opponents at the first Surebet Raider Classic on Sept. 1, to claim the championship in sweeping fashion.Facing three teams with impressive recent resumes -- Stone Bridge, Westfield and Sherando have each advanced to the Virginia State playoffs in one or each of the previous two seasons – the host Raiders were even more impressive in sweeping each of their matches on Saturday.
Following a Group AA state final appearance in 2006, Loudoun County (4-0) is showing stellar form early in 2007. The Raiders swept Handley on Aug. 28 to open the season.
“The season is going really well. We are having a lot of fun,” said senior hitter Morgan Petkovich, who committed to Villanova prior to the season. “[We have] very good chemistry, better than last year, I think.”
Petkovich and senior teammate Marguerite Hanna each smashed 30 kills in the three wins. Hanna also had 48 digs.
Loudoun County coach Jenica Matthias felt the three matches in one-day format was a good test of endurance for her team. The Raiders depth and leadership were beneficial in the tournament.
Loudoun County started out slow in a couple of games, especially the first game versus Sherando. The Raiders finished strong in the game for a 25-23 win, the closest game of the day for the hosts.
“The girls are really good about getting back on target. They don’t settle for, 'Oh that’s okay,' ” Matthias said. “They push themselves hard not to make the same mistake twice. I want to say they work on perfection. But it's not necessarily perfection, it’s more working on making a good, aggressive play, a good, hard hit, a smart tip.”
Juniors Shaylin O’Connell (21 kills and 10 blocks), Kerry Sarver (46 assists 24 service points), Katie Martin (39 assists) and Sara Reilly (14 kills, eight blocks and nine digs) also had big days for the Raiders, as did senior Rebecca Dancy (33 digs) and sophomore Juliane Hanna (12 kills, 20 digs and 27 service points).
“We are well rounded at every position. It is amazing,” Petkovich noted.
Stone Bridge and Westfield, a pair of Group AAA powers, have just five seniors on their collective rosters. Stone Bridge actually has more freshmen (3) than seniors (2) on its roster. Five of the Bulldogs’ six losses in individual games were by five points or less.
“I don’t think we played as well as I would have liked,” Stone Bridge coach Jill Raschiatore said. “Obviously, we didn’t have the outcome we would have liked. I just think we were a little flat. We played with a little less emotion than I would have liked to have seen them play with. We faced some tough opponents. Loudoun County has a great program.”
Raschiatore is hopeful her team will learn to win some of those close games as they gain experience.
“I thought my setter Lily Vera had a really nice day setting. We didn’t really pass the best all day,” Raschiatore said. “We had moments of great passing, but then we had moments where we really made Lily scramble. But she did a great job of getting to a lot of balls. Meghan DeMartino has been passing well and hitting well. And my libero, Natalie Driskill, had a great day defensively.”
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