Volleyball: Flint Hill Shuts Out Oakton

Though just 2 miles apart, Flint Hill School and Oakton High volleyball teams had never faced off. In their first match at Oakton High on Friday, the Huskies came out on top with 3-0 sweep. 

The Huskies improved to a 9-1 record, while the Cougars dropped to 11-5. 

Though they maintained control throughout the match, the Huskies had to battle off the determined Cougars from making a comeback. 

In the first set, the Huskies started up 7-1 only to find the Cougars work their way to an 11-11 tie. The Huskies pulled ahead again and won the set by a tight two-point margin.

"It's really good to see the girls stay relaxed when the other team gets three or four points on us," said Carrol Anderson, the Huskies' head coach. "They don't get rattled, and are almost too relaxed at times, but it helps to get them going again."

In the second set, the Cougars scored the first points. But in their most dominant set of the game, the Huskies reclaimed the lead and kept it for a convincing 25-14 win. 

The third set again saw the Cougars fighting to stay in the game. When the Huskies took a seven-point lead, the Cougars went on an 8-3 scoring spree to pull the game within two points. But the Huskies held their lead to win 25-20 for its fourth sweep of the season and second in a row.

"I think we're starting to come together as a team more," said sophomore Ally Ford, who let the Huskies in kills and digs with 14 each. "Even though sometimes it looks like we're winning by a lot, it feels like a close game. But because we're playing as a team more now we're able to stay ahead."

The Huskies will look to continue their win streak when they host Paul VI at 6:15 p.m. Monday.

The Cougars, now with their first back-to-back losses of the season, will look to learn from this week's mistakes and build on their strengths.

"We've shown we can handle tough teams, now we just need to come back and win against them," said Dan Courain, the Cougars' head coach. "We're just not consistent enough, but we can play with tough teams like Flint Hill at times. I think the girls are really starting to understand that and want to work to fix it." 

The Cougars have a match 7:30 p.m. Monday at South County, whom they faced and defeated in the Northern Virginia Volleyball Association Invitational earlier this season.

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