By David Wagner
Western Albemarle’s varsity volleyball team traveled to Fluvanna County High School for a one-day tournament August 27. The format for one-day tournaments is a little different than regular season matches. To speed things up, teams play the best two out of three sets instead of the regular best three out of five. After cruising through two early season scrimmages in which the Warriors took all five sets from opponents Wilson Memorial and E. C. Glass, Western was ready to get their season started.
The Warriors started pool play against Monticello High School and made quick work of the Mustangs, winning in two straight sets, 26-24 and 25-13. Courtney Berry and Alema Atuaia had six kills each and Cassidy Wilson added five kills. Andrea Vial tallied 16 assists at setter and Abby Boitnott added five of her own. Jasmine Monge led the way with nine digs, while Atuaia had seven digs and four aces from the service line.
In their second match the Warriors faced R. E. Lee of Staunton. The Leeman stood their ground but in the end Western won in three sets, 23-25, 25-19 and 15-13. Atuaia led the Warriors with 10 kills and four more aces from the service line. Courtney Berry had seven more kills, Ellie Bright tallied six kills and Olivia Nichols added five more. Wilson and Nichols also stuffed the Lee attack with four blocks each to control play at the net. Setter Andrea Vial had a superb match with 28 assists in just three sets and Jasmine Monge did a great job defensively with 13 digs. Olivia Nichols had 10 digs of her own and Adriana Bland added eight more as the Warriors defended and passed with efficiency.
In their final match of pool play Western Albemarle defeated Spotswood, taking two sets, 25-23, 15-25, 15-12 to win the pool and put themselves in the Championship match. Nichols, Wilson and Vial stepped up again for the Warriors. Nichols had eight kills and eight digs, Wilson had eight kills and seven digs and Vial added 20 more assists. Berry made her presence known at the net with five more blocks and Monge had 12 more digs to steady the Western passing game. Bland played a solid role as well in the passing game for Western, tallying eight digs.
The Warriors faced Broadway in the championship match. Western was carrying good momentum and took two straight sets from Broadway to win the tournament, 25-18 and 25-21. Atuaia, Berry and Vial led the Warriors in the title match. Atuaia had nine kills and three more aces from the service line. Berry added six kills and five blocks and Vial had 13 more assists. Sierra McCance tallied nine assists and Monge (seven digs) and Adriana Bland (six digs) once again made defensive plays and in the passing game to aid setters Vial and McCance. The Warriors will be at home on Tuesday, September 6, versus Handley High School. JV will start at 6:30 pm and varsity will follow immediately.
