DC – Washington Catholic Athletic Conference | Archive | October, 2008

Boys Soccer: Gonzaga 4, Paul VI 1

By Ryan Mink
rmink@digitalsports.com

Gonzaga’s boys soccer team advanced to the WCAC finals for the ninth straight time Thursday, beating Paul VI 4-1.

The Eagles are awaiting Friday’s result between DeMatha and O’Connell to see who they will face Sunday in the finals at Catholic University.

“We played very well today,” Gonzaga Coach Scott Waller said. “I was very excited. The boys definitely put their best foot forward.”

Paul VI gave the Eagles (20-1-2) some trouble earlier this season when the Panthers went up 2-0 at one point before Gonzaga made some changes and stormed back with three goals in the second half.

But Gonzaga controlled Thursday’s game from the start. Paul VI didn’t score until there was only a couple minutes left in the game.

Dan Rice opened the scoring off an assist off the head of John McMurray. Chris Perez notched the second goal on a counter-attack with an assist from Marcus Douglass. Rice returned the favor late in the game, setting up a McMurray goal with a beautiful cross. The Stags’ final goal came off the foot of Douglass with help from Sean Cantarella.

Waller said it’s tough to judge whether the Eagles are playing their best soccer of the year at this point. But one thing is for sure, Gonzaga better be if it’s going to win a third straight WCAC title.

“I’m excited about the finals,” Waller said. “Our boys are excited.”

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WCAC Most Watched Videos: Oct. 24-30

WCAC Most Watched Videos
Oct. 24-30

Paul VI celebrated its Senior Night in style last Friday as Idreis Augustas rushed for 253 yards and five touchdowns, leading the Panthers to a much-needed double overtime win over Gonzaga. And fans paid attention — or at least PVI fans did. But there were tons of great plays in that game so check out the others! NOTICE: If DigitalSports is not at your football game check back on Wednesday afternoons for highlights and a box score! That way you can relive it all over again!

1. Idreis Augustas touchdown
This is a run of a man possessed. He gets past one tackler, splits two more and then drags the final Eagles before getting over the goal line. Think Augustas wanted that win?

2. Donte Washington slipping and sliding

3. Tommy Chroniger 31-yard touchdown run

4. Holy Cross Carly Sullivan game-winning goal

5. Carly Sullivan interview

6. Wright Place Wright time, Daniel Wright recovers fumble

7. Jelani Jenkins 19-yard touchdown run

8. Caleb Porzel 62-yard punt return touchdown

9. Elizabeth Seton celebrates WCAC field hockey semifinal win

10. Tommy Chroniger keeps his balance for 38-yard run

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Football: DeMatha 41, O’Connell 0

BOX SCORE

Box Score         1    2    3    4   —   F  
    DeMatha      7   14  14   6    —  41
    O’Connell      0    0    0    0    —   0

Scoring Summary:
Q1 – DM – Chroniger 15 run (Branthover kick)
Q2 – DM – Coker 6 run (Branthover kick)
Q2 – DM – Chroniger 31 run (Branthover kick)
Q3 – DM – Coker 1 run (Branthover kick)
Q3 – DM – Morton 8 run (Branthover kick)
Q4 – DM – Washington 14 run (kick failed)

Stat Leaders:
Passing: D – Chroniger 0-2-0
Rushing: D – Chroniger 15-147 2 TD, Coker 8-72 2 TD

**Click HERE for full video highlights!

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Football: Paul VI 41, Gonzaga 38 (2 OT)

By Ryan Mink
rmink@digitalsports.com

It was double overtime, for the second straight game, and Paul VI running back Idreis Augustas wasn’t going to be stopped.

He took the handoff at the 14-yard line,  spun through a tackle at the 9-yard line, stiff-armed through a pair of Gonzaga defenders and shed one more at the goal line for the game-winning touchdown last Friday.

That sent off a wild celebration at Paul VI last Friday night as the Panthers beat Gonzaga, 41-35, on Senior Night. It was emotional for more reasons than that. Paul VI lost the previous Friday night to St. John’s in double overtime, fell by just 8 points to DeMatha the weekend before that and lost to Bishop McNamara at home in the final seconds before that.

The mantra on the Paul VI sidelines as the game wore on was “Not today,” as in, the Panthers weren’t going to stand for another crushing loss. And Augustas, who rushed for five touchdowns and 268 yards embodied that attitude.

“Our kids have really hung together and it’s a testament to the type of players we have,” Paul VI Coach Patrick McGroarty said.

Paul VI improves to 3-5 overall after notching its first WCAC win of the season. Gonzaga fell to 2-6 overall and 2-3 in the conference, putting the Eagles currently in a three-way tie with O’Connell and Bishop McNamara for the fourth and final WCAC playoff spot.

The Panthers scored on their first drive, capped by an Augustas 19-yard touchdown run. But Gonzaga sophomore quarterback Kevin Hogan was slinging. Hogan, who finished 12-of-23 passing for 301 yards and four touchdowns, set up an Alan Elder 15-yard touchdown run.

Paul VI answered back just minutes before the end of the half with an 18-yard touchdown reception by Dominic Sanders but Hogan connected with Ricky Neville on a 78-yard touchdown pass on Gonzaga’s first offensive play of the next series. Gonzaga took a 21-14 lead into halftime on a 20-yard pass from Hogan to Chris Speros.

The Panthers, however, scored the first two touchdowns of the second half, both on Augustas runs. The Eagles responded with a  33-yard pass from Hogan to Neville, Paul VI countered with another Augustas touchdown run and lastly Gonzaga, with just 35 seconds left in regulation, scored its final touchdown on a 36-yard heave to Max Johnston.

Gonzaga attempted to go for the win on a two-point conversion but after the play seemed to be successful, a penalty was called. Add on a false start and the Eagles were relying on kicker Robbie Colas to make a long extra point, which he did, to send the game to overtime.

Paul VI got the ball first and began to drive once again behind its strong offensive line and Augustas. But the senior running back fumbled on the 8-yard line. Sanders recovered for Paul VI but he was stripped and Hogan recovered that fumble to end Paul VI’s first overtime attempt.

The Eagles hardly moved anywhere on their first possession and were left with Colas attempting a near 50-yard field goal, which fell short – but not by much.

Gonzaga had the first possession of the second overtime and quickly drove to the 1-yard line with first-and-goal. But Paul VI stuffed the Eagles on three consecutive plays, forcing a short field goal by Colas.

It took Paul VI only two plays to capitalize. The first was an 11-yard run up the middle by Dan McGroarty in which he dragged a handful of Eagles several yards. The second play was Augustas’ bouncing, spinning, powerful touchdown run to end the game and ease the Panthers’ late-game pain.

Box Score       1    2    3    4   OT   OT —   F  
    Gonzaga      0   21   0   14   0    3   —  38
    Paul VI         7    7    7   14   0    7   —  41

Scoring Plays                               
1Q — P6Augustas 19 run (Scarbrough kick)
2Q — GZElder 15 run (Colas kick)
2Q — P6Sanders 18 pass from Richards (Scarbrough kick)
2Q — GZNeville 78 from Hogan (Colas kick)
2Q — GZSperos 23 from Hogan (Colas kick)
3Q — P6Augustas 7 run (Scarbrough kick)
4Q — P6 Augustas 22 run (Scarbrough kick)
4Q — GZ Neville 33 from Hogan (Colas kick)
4Q — P6Augustas 5 run (Scarbrough kick)
4Q — GZJohnson 36 from Hogan (Colas kick)
6Q — GZColas 20 FG
6Q — P6Augustas 14 run


**Click HERE for full video highlights

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Field Hockey: Holy Cross 1, Good Counsel 0 (2OT)

By Ryan Mink
rmink@digialsports.com

CLICK THE VIDEOS AND PHOTOS BUTTONS ABOVE AND LEFT TO VIEW MULTIPLE PAGES OF HIGHLIGHTS AND PICTURES FROM THIS GAME!

Despite being a senior, Holy Cross’ Carly Sullivan saw very little action for most of the field hockey season.

Nevertheless, Holy Cross Coach Candy Thurman thought Sullivan would be the perfect player to insert into a defensive scoreless struggle in double overtime. And with that, an unlikely hero got her chance.

Sullivan knocked in the game-winning goal Wednesday in the WCAC field hockey semifinals, lifting Holy Cross to a 1-0 win over Good Counsel, who beat the Tartans in the past two WCAC championship games.

“It just came to me and I just turned around and dished it in,” a somewhat still-stunned Sullivan. “I didn’t even think that it was over yet. I just didn’t even know.”

Holy Cross will now face Elizabeth Seton in the championship game Saturday at 6 p.m. at the University of Maryland. Holy Cross and Elizabeth Seton split their regular season series.

“For short snippets to have her up there, it’s fantastic,” Thurman said of Sullivan, who scored with 4 minutes, 44 seconds left in the second overtime. “So for the overtime we were like, ‘Put her in there.’ And she was ready.”

Sullivan has always been fun and energetic, one of those players that every team loves to have. But there just wasn’t a set roll for her. That was until two weeks ago when she caught fire shooting during practice. Thurman noticed she had quick reflexes and good attacking instincts.

“She’s just a good gamer,” Thurman said. “She’s just  excited and she’s fast.”

After beating Good Counsel twice during the regular season, the Tartans tied Elizabeth Seton in at the end of the regular season. A coin flip, which Holy Cross lost, put the Tartans and Good Counsel on a road to face each other in the semifinals.

Despite losing to the Falcons the past two years, Holy Cross was happy to be facing Good Counsel this year. And the rivalry was even more intense this year from the start.

As Good Counsel’s players excited their bus, the Tartans noticed that the Falcons brought with them last year’s WCAC championship trophy. The trophy resided behind Good Counsel’s bench for the remainder of the game and was even carried out onto the field with the Falcons during halftime.

“We were like, ‘Oh my gosh, what are they doing?’” senior Hayley Katzenberger said. “We were all talking about it. That just made us want to beat them more that they would bring their trophy.”

As if the Tartans didn’t notice the trophy, Thurman made sure to point it out before the game started.

“That gives us, I think, a little extra motivation,” Thurman said.

Long after the game ended, the trophy still sat on a card table in front of the scoreboard. Thurman didn’t want to touch it before it was rightfully hers. And that won’t be decided until Sunday.

“I wouldn’t take it regardless of who it belongs to because the perception may be that we’re going to get it,” Thurman said.

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Field Hockey, Elizabeth Seton 1, Saint Mary’s Ryken 0

***Click on videos link to the left to view video highlights and interviews from the game***

By Andy States
Content Manager, SMAC

As Elizabeth Seton came to the sidelines at the half of Wednesday’s WCAC field hockey semifinal against the visting St. Mary’s Ryken Knights, Coach Meghan Sheperd had one clear message — to finsh it in regulation.

The Roadrunners had a knack for taking games to overtime all season, including last Friday in a win at Ryken that was decided in penalty strokes. But with Wednesday’s game scoreless at the break and a spot in the championship game on the line, Sheperd did not want to leave anything to chance.

“We actually kind of played a similar game [on Friday] as we did today,” Sheperd said. “We were controlling the ball a lot of the game, but weren’t putting it into the goal. Unfortunately that was happening again today. So at halftime, although they got to hear the spirit squad for a second, they kind of got reamed a little bit just about finishing the game and ending it in regulation. We didn’t want to have to get into that situation again where it is a 50-50 game.”

Katie Rogers made sure the Roadrunners didn’t end up in that situation again. Rogers pounded one home in the early stages of the second half to account for the game’s only goal and earn Seton its first trip to the championship game by a 1-0 count over Ryken.

“It just felt good,” Rogers said. “We needed a goal. We went the whole first half without scoring, so the second half we didn’t want to go to overtime again.”

“We’ve been trying so hard and for some reason it just hasn’t been going in,” Seton’s Amy Shirron added. “We’ve had so many close, 0-0 games up until the end. It was awesome to see it finally go in because we’ve been working so hard and we deserved it and we needed it.”


Wednesday marked not only the first time Seton (10-6) advanced to a championship game, but the first time the squad had even hosted a semifinal. And after graduating a sizeable crop of seniors from last year’s team, this season opened with more than a few question marks.

“We thought we were going [to the championship game] last year,” Sheperd said. “We had an amazing team last year. We graduated a lot of seniors, but we still came back and, in fact, I think it was more our girls playing together and playing like a team. That got us to this point.”

The Roadrunners advance to Saturday night’s championship game at 6 p.m. at the University of Maryland. The opponent, Holy Cross, which defeated Good Counsel in double overtime in the other semifinal. Seton and Holy Cross split the regular season series.

“It still feels unreal,” Sophie Shiaris said.

“We’re so excited,” Shirron said. “We’ve never gotten this far in Seton history. We’ve made it to the semifinals. We’ve never had a semifinal game on our field and we’ve never made it to championships. It’s awesome for us.”

Elizabeth Seton 1, St. Mary’s Ryken 0
SMR    0    0
ES    0    1
Goal
Seton: Rogers

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WCAC Football Poll: Week 8

WCAC Football Top-10

1.    Good Counsel, 8-0/5-0, LW 1
The Falcons are getting the big plays from Jelani Jenkins, Caleb Porzel, Tyler Campbell, E.J. Scott and Mike Wallace on offense. But they still had way too many turnovers against St. John’s. That’s something that, despite the talent the Falcons have, could end up biting them come playoffs.
Next: Saturday at Gonzaga, 2:30

2.    DeMatha, 7-2/4-1, LW 2
DeMatha is on a roll and certainly looks better now than when it faced Good Counsel. Tommy Chroniger seems to be getting more elusive as a runner and Marcus Coker is developing as a bruising back.
Next: Saturday vs. St. John’s, 2:30

3.    St. John’s, 6-2/4-1, LW 3
It wasn’t pretty for St. John’s on Friday but nobody has put up a good game against Good Counsel. The Cadets just committed too many turnovers to win. This week’s game against DeMatha could show more about just how good St. John’s is.
Next: Saturday at DeMatha, 2:30

4.    O’Connell, 5-3/2-3, LW 4
The Knights have now lost two straight against the WCAC’s top two teams, Good Counsel and DeMatha. This has forced them into a three-way tie with Gonzaga and McNamara. The Knights have a blowout win over Gonzaga under their belt and need a win over McNamara to reach the playoffs.
Next: Saturday vs. McNamara, 2:30

5.    Paul VI, 3-5/1-4, LW 7
The Panthers finally pulled out a close win over Gonzaga. Just think, if they had held on to beat McNamara and topped St. John’s in double overtime, the Panthers would be well on their way to a playoff spot right now.
Next: Saturday at Archbishop Carroll, 2:30

6.    Gonzaga, 2-6/2-3, LW 5
The Eagles put themselves in a much tougher spot after losing to Paul VI. It doesn’t get any easier from here with Good Counsel next and St. John’s after that.
Next: Saturday vs. Good Counsel, 2:30

7.    McNamara, 4-4/2-3, LW 6
Bishop McNamara needs to beat O’Connell, simple as that. If they do, they’re in the front seat for the fourth playoff spot. If not, they’re out.
Next: Saturday at O’Connell, 2:30

8.    Bishop Ireton, 4-5, LW 8
The Cardinals beat up on St. Mary’s Ryken, the other pseudo-WCAC team, this past week to end its losing skid. Sidewell Friends, who has only two wins in which one came against Ryken, presents an opportunity to get to .500.
Next: Saturday at Sidwell Friends, 2

9.    Archbishop Carroll, 1-7/0-5, LW 9
The Lions fell to McNamara but didn’t go without a little roar. The two teams were tied at 7 before McNamara scored two straight touchdowns. Carroll also caused a safety.
Next: Saturday vs. Paul VI, 2:30

10.    St. Mary’s Ryken, 1-6, LW 10
Another loss but Ryken has a week off to mull things over and keep on improving.
Next: Friday, Nov. 7 at Bullis, 7

Please forward all concerns, questions and comments to WCAC Content Manager Ryan Mink at rmink@digitalsports.com

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Monday Morning Quarterback: Week 8

Weekly Awards

Offensive Player of the Week: Tyler Campbell, Good Counsel
Campbell had his second perfect game of the season – with the other coming against DeMatha – in a blowout win over St. John’s. Campbell went 9-for-9 for 198 yards and has been a major reason why Good Counsel has established itself as the conference’s clear frontrunner.

Defensive Player(s) of the Week: DeMatha Stags
The Stags shut out a very good O’Connell team and seem to be rolling now. DeMatha, who almost posted a shutout against Gonzaga last week as well, pounced on four turnovers.

Special Teams Player of the Week: Caleb Porzel, Good Counsel
Porzel unseats St. John’s kicker Matt Elsasser because he continues to rack up the special teams touchdowns. This time he returned a punt 62 yards for a touchdown against St. John’s.

Offensive Play of the Week: Idreis Augustas, Paul VI
Augustas ran in a 14-point touchdown in the second overtime to give Paul VI a dramatic win over Gonzaga. Augustas rushed for five touchdowns and 268 yards on 36 carries. OK, he definitely could be the Offensive Player of the Week, but let’s spread the love. Either way, Augustas deserves MAJOR props.

Defensive Play of the Week: Paul VI
It wasn’t the greatest overall performance for the Panthers defense, but Paul VI held Gonzaga to a field goal in the first possession of a second overtime, allowing the Panthers to finally pull out a close win.

Quote of the Week: Coach Pat McGroarty
“Not today.”

Round-Up

Game of the Week: Paul VI 41, Gonzaga 38 (2 OT)
Who would have thought this would be the game of the week when the WCAC’s first and second-place teams (Good Counsel and St. John’s) faced each other and the third and fourth-place teams (DeMatha and O’Connell) also met. This one was a slugfest that came down to the wire. Must mention that Gonzaga quarterback Kevin Hogan threw for 301 yards.
FULL VIDEOS HIGHLIGHTS TO COME!

Bishop Ireton 51, St. Mary’s Ryken 0
Ireton is like St. Mary’s Ryken in that they are both independents largely competing in the WCAC. Now Ryken can see an example.

Bishop McNamara 27, Carroll 9
The Mustangs get a win over an improving Carroll team after losing two straight games. Quarterback Kevin Clark ran for one touchdown and threw for another as McNamara put up a balanced offensive attack.

Good Counsel 42, St. John’s 3
The Falcons got the usual from Jelani Jenkins and Caleb Porzel — five touchdowns combined — and a perfect game from quarterback Tyler Campbell, which is starting to also become the usual. Turnovers hurt St. John’s. FULL VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS TO COME!

DeMatha 41, O’Connell 0
Turnovers killed the Knights and
DeMatha is starting to get going. They Stags have now scored 76 points
in their past two games and have allowed just 6 points. Tommy
Chroniger’s legs are a major weapon. FULL VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS TO COME!

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Football: Good Counsel 42, St. John’s 3

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS!

By Kyle Wannen
Special to DigitalSports.com

Good Counsel proved that it was the team to beat in the WCAC when it defeated DeMatha by 21 points on the national stage earlier this season.

Friday night, against the only other undefeated team in the WCAC, Good Counsel might have proved that it is on a completely different level than its conference competition with an impressive 42-3 victory over St. John’s on Senior Night in Olney.

“It was a very emotional night and they were a great opponent so we knew we had to play big and play our hearts out,” said senior fullback and linebacker Jelani Jenkins. “We made a lot of mistakes but I think we excelled in a lot of areas.”

Jenkins and fellow running back Caleb Porzel provided most of the scoring for the Falcons (8-0, 5-0 WCAC), as they have done all season, combining for five touchdowns. But the stellar play of quarterback Tyler Campbell has been a major reason why the Falcons have gone from an elite to a seemingly unstoppable team.

Campbell had his second perfect passing game against WCAC competition on the season, completing all nine of his passes for 197 yards, one touchdown and a two-point conversion. His other perfect game came against DeMatha, Good Counsel’s other chief rival.

“I just lead the offense and make sure Jelani and Caleb will score and have their best opportunities,” Campbell said. “I just want our team to get in the end zone. If it’s me throwing the ball or Caleb or Jelani running the ball I don’t care. We put up 42 points, that’s all I care about.”

“He’s been here for four years and he’s one heck of a player,” Falcons Coach Bob Milloy said. “He was 10-2 last year and 8-0 this year and 4-0 his sophomore year.”

The Falcons made good use of their first possession with a four-minute drive. After Campbell completed a 40-yard pass to receiver E.J. Scott, Porzel, who had nine carries for 27 yards, ran for a 2-yard touchdown to give the Falcons a 7-0 lead.

Campbell completed another long pass on Good Counsel’s next possession, this time a 26-yarder to receiver Mike Wallace. Jenkins, who had four carries for 45 yards, ran for a 16-yard touchdown on the next play just before the end of the first quarter.

“We’re not a real big team and we’re young up front, we start two tenth graders on the offensive line, and we’ve been getting big plays,” said Milloy. “When you have guys like Porzel and Jenkins, they’ll get big plays off. So we’ll keep giving it to them until they break it.”

In the second quarter, the Falcons recovered a muffed punt twice and Jenkins ran for touchdowns of 14 and three yards, respectively, as a result. Good Counsel capped off the half with a 51-yard punt return for a touchdown by Porzel with just over a minute left. That increased the lead to 35-0 at halftime.

After safety Al Thompson intercepted Cadet quarterback Robert Cadle, Campbell threw a 55-yard pass to Scott for that Falcon’s final score.

On their final possession of the game, the Cadets (6-2, 4-1) were able to score with a 39-yard field goal by Matt Elsasser to avoid the shutout.

“Obviously we tried our best,” St. John’s Coach Joe Patterson said. “But it just didn’t work out.”

BOX SCORE

Line Score             1    2    3    4   —   F  
    St. John’s          0    0    0    3    —   3
    Good Counsel  14  21   7    0    —   0

Scoring Summary:
1Q — GC — Porzel 3-yd run (Hamilton kick)
1Q — GC — Jenkins 19-yd run (Hamilton kick)
2Q — GC — Jenkins 14-yd run (kick failed)
2Q — GC — Jenkins 3-yd run (Campbell pass to Taylor)
2Q — GC — Porzel 62-yd punt return (Hamilton kick)
3Q — GC — Campbell 55-yd pass to Scott (Hamilton kick)
4Q — SJ  — Elsasser 39 FG

Stat Leaders:
Rushing: SJ-Thomas 11-38 ; GC-Jenkins 4-45, 3TD
Passing: SJ-Cadle 3-8-1, 22; GC-Campbell 9-9-0, 197, TD
Receiving: SJ-Opon 2-22; GC-Scott 5-144, TD

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Volleyball: Good Counsel 3, Magruder 0

By Ryan Mink
rmink@digitalsports.com

Please click here or the “Videos” tab above to view 48 video highlights from the game!
Please click here or the “Photos” tab to view 75 photos from the game!

It was made abundantly clear that senior outside hitter Becky West wanted to be the one finish the match against Magruder. With the final point hanging in the air, West pointed up, as if to motion to best friend and setter Brighid Casey to give her an assist.

Casey fed her and West, of course, crushed the ****, giving Good Counsel a 3-0 win over the rival Colonels Thursday night in Rockville – 25-16, 25-21, 25-17.

“Last year they took a game from us and we didn’t want them to take any games from us,” West said. “We wanted to win it in three.”

These are the kind of goals Good Counsel has this season. They don’t want to just win. The Falcons want to dominate.

Although the game doesn’t have playoff implications since Good Counsel is in the WCAC and Magruder is a Montgomery County public school, it is one of the most intense regular season matches of the year. This season, as is often the case, both teams entered with an undefeated record.

“This means so much to us,” West said. “Coming from a private school sometimes you don’t get recognized for being a good team, but being able to beat an undefeated public school shows we’re the best in Montgomery County and it feels great.”

The Falcons (21-0) scored 10 of the final 12 points in the first game, 11 of the final 14 in the second game and four in a row to close out the match.

West (19 kills) and Casey (33 assists and 7 aces) led the way for the Falcons, but as Coach Karen Kart said, the difference this year is she has more production from her bench this season than in the past. For example, sophomore Meagan Donohoe, had a handful of huge blocks near the end of the first game and start of the second.

“They’re loaded, I think,” Magruder Coach Scott Zanni said. “I’ve been doing high school for 15 years and they’ve got to be one of the top two or three teams I’ve seen during that time.”

“They’ve got a great setter,” he continued. “Becky West is as good an outside hitter as we’ve seen come out of this area in a long time. Their other outside hitter Jenna Campbell is real good, their libero is solid, they’ve got two big kids in the middle, their opposites are really big and athletic. They don’t have a weakness. They’re loaded.”

Good Counsel’s players, however, say this wasn’t even their best volleyball. The Falcons claim they were at their best earlier this season at the Garden State Challenge in New Jersey when the finished first amongst a pool of nationally-ranked teams.

The Falcons are ranked No. 86 nationally by Prepvolleyball.com and for contrast, a team ranked No. 19 finished third at the Garden State Challenge, Casey said.

Magruder (18-1) had its best shot at a win in the second game as the Colonels took an 18-14 lead. But Casey rattled off two straight aces to start a six-point Good Counsel stretch.

“I think everybody else gets freaked out,” Casey said. “And I was going back to serve and I just knew I had to calm down and get some aces. … We just pretty much wanted to come here, win and shut them down.”

– statistician John Hoven contributed to this report

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