Volleyball: Cougars Win First-Ever Regional Match

The Oakton High Cougars made history Monday with the volleyball program's first-ever Northern Region Tournament win.

The Cougars defeated Lake Braddock in a 3-0 sweep to lock their place in the second round to be played against Stone Bridge on Tuesday.

"It's our first-ever region win and to do it against a tough Lake Braddock team is just awesome," said head coach Steve Drumm. "I'm really proud of the girls that they didn't give up after a tough loss in the district final and came back here to start a whole new tournament with a win."

The Cougars stayed on top for most of the first game until the Bruins notched five straight points to bring the score from 21-15 to 21-20.

Up 24-23, the Cougars could not score the final point, putting the game into a tug-of-war for 11 more plays. The Cougars finally bested the Bruins 30-28. [For video of this battle, click in the box to the right of this page.]

The Cougars were at their most dominant in game two. After starting the game 0-3, they crawled into the lead at 7-6 and never looked back to post a final score of 25-18.

They faced an even deeper deficit in game three, falling behind 0-7 to start the game. But they again fought their way back into contention to sweep the match.

The second round of the region tournament has the Cougars facing the No. 1 team in the region, Stone Bridge. But Drumm says they're ready for it.

"The pressure is on them. ... And if we take game one, they're going to freak out," Drumm said. "I really think we can play a really good game against them."