by Stephen M. Lewis
DigitalSports Richmond
slewis@digitalsports.com
(804) 240-2191
Deep Run, members of the Colonial District, is through with a two-day Capital District gauntlet.
The Wildcats lost a tough five-gamer to Highland Springs Monday at home, but put together an impressive four-game win over Atlee Tuesday night to quiet a rowdy crowd.
Down three points in the deciding game, Deep Run, ranked sixth in the latest DigitalSports Top 10, ran off seven straight points.
“It was all team effort. I couldn’t have done it alone,” said Deep Run’s powerful middle Ross Madden, one of a few holdovers from last year’s state championship squad. “We all stepped it up and pounded. We just got it done.”
The Wildcats raced out early, winning 25-18 and 25-21 in the first two games, both competitive, but never out of Deep Run’s grasp.
The third game was all Atlee. The Raiders played well early, which got its student section into the match.
Robert Chilcoat (16 kills) and Kyle Rodgers (nine kills) started finding the range at the net, while jump servers Chilcoat, Jonathan Sperlazza and Jordan Stringfellow made it difficult on the Wildcat back row.
Atlee led by as much as nine before making things interesting with a 25-19 triumph.
“I think it got the guys fired up,” Atlee coach Michelle Black said of their home crowd. “We have a lot of tweaking to do. We need to work on defense and a couple of things on offense.”
The Raider offense looked fine early in game four. Pass, set and spike was a common occurence, all the way to a 21-18 lead that looked like it would lead to a fifth game.
All of a sudden, Deep Run started playing extraordinary defense. Usual Atlee points became long rallies that Deep Run would pull out.
A timeout by Black at 21 apiece couldn’t halt the momentum, as Deep Run finished the match with the aforementioned seven-point bolt.
Garrett Short scored for match point, and Eric Pollitt put in one of his 11 blocks to end it.
“That’s what we need. We haven’t had too many large crowds,” Deep Run coach Kevin Pond said. “We need to be pushed. We were pushed hard tonight by Atlee.”
Deep Run 25 25 19 25
Atlee 18 21 25 21
Records: Deep Run (9-2); Atlee (7-2)
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