Albemarle upends Chantilly, heads to AAA state title game

RICHMOND — Albemarle’s volleyball team started the post season by winning a five game brawl with Stafford — a team that they hadn’t dropped a game to in the two previous meetings. Since then, the Patriots have been on a tear.
After taking a 2-0 lead against unbeaten Chantilly, the Patriots survived a Chargers comeback to win in game five and advance to the Group AAA title game
(25-22, 25-20, 19-25, 20-25, 15-13).
Surviving giant swings of momentum has become a recent staple of this Albemarle squad and it’s the biggest reason they’re playing in the championship game for the fourth time in school history.
“Coming back in that last game was really amazing,” said Patriots coach Mark Ragland. “When you’re up 2-0 and then everything turns against you, it’s really hard to find that inner strength to get the intensity level back up again. You start playing too defensively and that’s what happened in games three and four.”
After getting pounded in the first two games, Chantilly’s defense overwhelmed the aggressive Patriots attack in game three and four.
In game five, it was back and forth until the Patriots jumped ahead 13-11 and eventually closed out the match 15-13.
“I was real proud of the way our kids went out and responded in game 5,” Ragland said. “They easily could have melted on the court. But this is a team that has been surprising a lot of people, including themselves.”
Kara Elder and Laura Gomez continued their outstanding postseason play by combining for 37 kills and 12 blocks. As one of the team captains, Gomez also did her fair share talking on the court, or as she described it, “yelling at my teammates.”
After failing to eliminate Chantilly in games three and four, Gomez reminded her teammates that you only get to lose once in the post season.
“We didn’t want this to be our last game,” Gomez said. “I just reminded everyone that it potentially could have been. I knew we didn’t want that, but I felt like someone had to wake people up and get back to reality.”
As Elder and Gomez drew the attention of the staunch Chargers defense, Hannah Lawson and Sara Deal proved their worth when it matted most, late in game. The two chipped in 14 kills and Deal came up with six blocks.
“Team is the big key for us,” Ragland said. “We’ve got some players that may stand above others but — no player can carry you in this situation. It’s just impossible. So everyone has got to contribute.”
On the other side, falling to Albemarle was a sobering occasion for Chantilly as they had never trailed in a match this season until last night.
“It’s not the way that it ended but the fact that the season is over,” said Chargers coach Charles Ezigbo. “That’s what hurts the most.”
Just as impressive as Albemarle’s ability to rebound in game five was Chantilly’s will to force a fifth game in the first place. The Chargers were a different team after the first two games and Ezigbo credited his players for the change.
“I don’t think it’s what I told them but what they told themselves,” Ezigbo said. “They we’re going to out and play their game and have fun and compete a little more.”
Albemarle faces the winner of Loudoun Valley and Westfield for the Group AAA championship on Saturday at 7 p.m.