Wildcats Lose Quarterfinal to Cougars

The Wildcats played tough volleyball in their Concorde District quarterfinal at Oakton but were hampered by a lack of communication on defense and a string of errors on offense, which ended all hope of advancing to the semifinal round.

Centreville sophomores Grace Simmons and Yasemin Atalay fought hard and performed well against the Cougars, helping to give Centreville a lead in the first set, but Oakton rallied back late and went on a 7-2 run to win the set and steal the momentum for the remainder of the match.

Oakton ended up sweeping the Wildcats in straight sets.

With several lead changes throughout game one, it looked as though it would be a long match. However, Sami Olson rang off a string of aces on her final serve for Oakton to close out the first game 25-20, with the Cougars holding a 1-0-match lead.

"I think we played well as a team but when we get down it's hard to get out of it," Simmons said. "I think we know we can do it but when you're down it is hard to get up."

The Wildcats played aggressively in game two but committed unforced errors, which led to a breakdown in communication on defense for Centreville.

Oakton quickly took advantage of the miscues and ran away with the set with forceful cross-court kills from Wildman.

Wildcat defenders Shannyn Esmond and Haley Santymire dove for digs to keep rallies alive, and Atalay swung forcefully at the net, but Wildman and Marisa Sheffield blocked hard and killed with aggression, drilling the ball into open space.

The Cougars strolled away with game two, 25-14, and put the pressure squarely on Centreville's shoulders.

Atalay said things became troublesome at the end of the first set, and they could not get the momentum back.

"At the beginning of the game we had so much momentum," Atalay said. "We could have had that game but we froze and got really nervous and it's really disappointing we lost."

The final set was more of the same, as Centreville served many balls out of bounds and into the net while Oakton played with precision and poise.

Wildman pounded the ball through defenders for Oakton and never looked back. The Cougars finished off the Wildcats in game three, 25-10. They will play Chantilly in a semifinal match Tuesday night.

Centreville Coach Ken Moser said he was proud of his girls for the effort they gave and pointed to the end of game one as the turning point.

"We played at a high level and I think the last five points [game one] we kind of took that level back one step," Moser said. "We were still playing aggressively but the last five points hit the floor and we didn't get to it like we did in the first part of the game."