The unique thing about the three Arlington public school girls varsity volleyball teams this season is each has a new head coach.
The Wakefield Warriors went on the road to bounce back from a three-match losing streak by defeating the Herndon Hornets, 3-0, in a Liberty District high-school match the night of Sept. 21 under new head coach Sol Ross.
With the victory, Wakefield improved its overall record to 6-3 and district mark to 2-3.
Wakefield’s losses have been against district rivals Langley, 3-0, the Washington-Liberty Generals, 3-2, and Yorktown Patriots, 3-1. Prior to that, the Warriors defeated the McLean Highlanders, 3-1, in a district match, which was their fifth straight victory to start the season.
Among Wakefield’s top players have been Alexandra Larsten, Ella Courtney, Pascaline Douliery, Olivia Henry, Evelyn Freshman, Annika Lersten and Emilie Kluge.
Through Sept. 21 action, Washington-Liberty was 6-5 overall and 4-1 in the district, losing to the Marshall Statesmen in league play. Keri Bongo is the Generals’ new head coach.
Washington-Liberty’s most recent win was 3-0 over Yorktown in an all-Arlington showdown.
Seniors Lucy Hultquist, Alexis Danaceau, Johanna Eyl, Rachel Lenz and Noe Oizumi are team leaders. The Generals have two freshmen and two sophomores on their roster.
Dominique Williams is the new head coach for a young Yorktown team with a roster that includes just four seniors – Lilly Roberts, Samantha O’Brien, Audrey Shiplett and Charlotte Hans.
Through Sept. 21 matches, Yorktown owned a 2-6 record, including a 1-4 district mark, with that win over Wakefield. The Patriots’ other victory was over South County, 3-0, in non-district play. Yorktown’s most recent match was a 3-0 loss to W-L.
Among the Patriots’ remaining matches are two against Arlington rivals Wakefield and W-L.
• In private-school girls varsity volleyball this fall, the perennial Division I state contender Bishop O’Connell Knights had a busy 13-5 record through Sept. 21 matches, including a 3-0 victory over Bishop McNamara in a Washington Catholic Athletic Conference showdown.
The win boosted the Knights’ conference mark to 4-0, all 3-0 victories.
Among top players for O’Connell are Jocelyn Pye, Ellyson Miller, Grace Faughnan, Erin Debiec, Madison Bowser, Teodora Stamenkovic, Alice Holoubek, Emily Reyburn, Hannah Kotb and Maia Cerezo. Debiec was a first-team all-state player last season and Bower was chosen second team.
The Knights lost their first three matches of the season, then through Sept. 21 action had won 12 straight, without allowing any of those opponents to win a game.
