Volleyball falls to Hayfield

After winning two straight games and going up 2-1 in the match, the Atoms where looking like they had overcome the slow start to the game and were on their way to a 3-1 record against Patriot District opponents.  The added bonus was that they were about to beat the Hayfield Hawks on their own senior night, but unfortunately the serves stopped hitting for the Atoms.

“The fourth game we just totally embarrassed ourselves,” said senior Glenda Ngo.  “We had a really bad serving game — we seemed to miss the serves whenever we needed them the most.  Our passing out of serve receive was pretty ugly too.”

The Atoms lost game four to the Hawks 25-13 and heading into the tiebreaker game needed to find a way to rebound.  They had been in this situation many times before in the season but with the pressure of the crowd and poor serve returns, the Atoms fell to the Hawks three games to two.

“We couldn’t pass any of their serves at all even though they weren’t even hard,” said Ngo.  “We also hit a lot of balls into the net and out.”

Despite keeping it close all game the Atoms lost game five 15-12 and fell to a 2-2 record in the district and 8-8 overall.

“Our entire team season goal has been to have a winning record,” said Ngo.

The team has had its highs and lows during the season and has gone 4-4 in their last eight games.

The Atoms are entering a clutch point in the season with two straight district games to close out the year.  Both are against tough district opponents in the Lee Lancers and South County Stallions, but the Atoms are hoping to win both and clinch one of the top four seeds in the Patriot district tournament.  The top four seeds get to host their first round game on their home courts in the tournament which could prove to be a huge advantage.

“The familiarity of the gym and the spectators helps a lot and it’s intimidating to the other team if we have great support from our fans,” said sophomore Teppi Shultis.  “We will do well against Lake Braddock and Lee, and we will do well against South County if we are competitive and go after them with the mentality of playing to win.”

This home advantage that could help the Atoms in their first round of the tournament, would also help them in another of their goal’s, advancing to the Northern Region tournament.

The Atoms senior night is on the 22nd at home against Lee, and could be the decisive game for the district standings less than a week before the tournament starts.

“My coach says to serve at the girl who looks like she’s about to cry,” said Shultis.

With  focused play and competitive attitude like this, the Atoms could advance farther into the post season than in recent history.