WCAC Playoffs

[spikeball]

Mon 10/29

#8 Ireton vs #9 McNamara:  Ireton 3-1

Tue 10/30 (Each game @ 5pm)

#1 Paul VI vs winner of 8/9 game:  PVI 3-0

#2 Holy Cross vs #7 Seton:  Holy Cross 3-0

#3 St. John's vs #6 Good Counsel:  SJC 3-0

#4 Ryken vs #5 O'Connell:  O'Connell 3-1

Thur 11/1: SEMIFINALS (Each game @ 6pm)

PVI vs O'Connell

Holy Cross vs SJC

Sat 11/3: CHAMPIONSHIP (Game at 7pm at gym of higher seed)

[spikeball]

The finals are set! It is Holy Cross going for its 7th (!!!) consecutive WCAC title against the team that has been the best all year - Paul VI. The game will played at 2:30pm (TIME CHANGE) at PVI on Saturday.

Last night, PVI methodically took out O'Connell in straight sets. They did it the way they've done it to every other team in the conference (except for that one oddball loss at Ryken). The Panthers got solid, consistent play at every position. Mary Page, the Player of the Year, was dominant as usual. Her sister, Jessie, was incredible in the back row. Their other hitters (Rodgers at MH and Sanchez at RS) chipped in with some timely kills and good blocking. I think there may have been some sort of senior-bias for PVI when it comes to the WCAC all-conference selections. Their senior setter got first team honors, while Rodgers (soph) and Sanchez (junior) got second team. But anyone who has watched this team play knows that the hitters - and the libero - are what drive this team. Maher is a fine setter, but is no better than the 5th best setter in the conference (at least now that AHC has their setter back) and prob got the vote based on the discussion in the coaches meeting which I suspect went something like: "she's a senior, and Charlotte and Elena will make it next year". Still, when your "weakest" starting player got 1st team all-conference honors, regardless of the reasoning behind it, that shows you just how great this team is. Relatedly, the Knights - who had a great season and will return 6 of their top 7 players and will certainly be competitive in the top "tier" next year with PVI, AHC and SJC - had a similar situation. Skye Ferris, by far the best player on O'Connell - was voted to the 2nd all-conference team, while their senior setter (Moriarty) made the 1st team. Now, I've seen both of the setters on these two teams play a lot, and I would give Moriarty the edge over Maher ... but there is no way that Kelly should have made first team over Skye. But I think the "senior" bias kicked in for that one as well.

Meanwhile, in Kensington, Holy Cross dismantled SJC 3-1. I say "dismantled" because even though it was 3-1 ... the outcome was never in doubt. SJC won the 2nd set, but AHC won the other three sets easily. It was an off day for the Cadets - who apparently lost their libero very early in the match (per MaxPreps, she appeared in only one set and played just 2 balls). That may explain why Holy Cross had 21 aces (!). The Tartans are now at full strength - they were without setter Nicole Dao for most of the year, but she is back at full strength (though AHC is running a 6-2 with Jackie Bardin, who is equally good); and their dominant middle (Courtney Okwara) who had been out for all of October - was back with a vengeance: 5 kills on 10 attempts and 6 blocks. Meanwhile, Ale Serrano had 13 kills, 8 aces, and continued her high-level play; she has been the Tartans best/most consistent player all year. For SJC, the only bright spots, as has seemingly been the case all year, was the 1-2 punch of probably the best setter (Lauren Antonucci) and the best OH (Rachel Richardson) in the whole league ... both of them ended up on the first-team all conference, and unlike some of the other teams/players, no one would argue with either choice. But the rest of the Lady Cadets struggled. Just not enough weapons, at least not against a fully-stocked AHC team.

Looking ahead to Saturday, Holy Cross was at full-strength the first time they played (and lost to) PVI 3-1; but that was very early in the season - and considering that three of Holy Cross' regular rotation players are freshman - that was not much of a surprise. When they played again - at PVI - AHC was no longer at full-strength (Nicole was out), but even so the match was just as close. AHC was on the road and without their top setter, and yet the result was about the same as in the first match. The freshman got a lot better; the chemistry has improved significantly, and Holy Cross is playing their best volleyball of the season. Meanwhile, I have a hard time shaking the fact that PVI lost to Ryken 10 days ago. Yea, it was at Ryken ... but Ryken turned around and got swept by a mediocre Good Counsel team (albeit in Olney) but then got spanked AT HOME by St. John's (3-0) and O'Connell (first round of playoffs). So it wasn't like Ryken was playing at a high level. Maybe PVI just overlooked them. Maybe Ryken just played inspired ball that day (it was senior night for what its worth). Anyway, PVI is the better team. They have more experience (although not more experience playing the WCAC title game), they have more talent, and they should win. But my gut tells me that the way that Holy Cross is playing, that the Tartans are going to make it 8 in a row. The only real wild card that I don't know is what the crowd will be like. It's a 2:30 Saturday game at PVI. Their football season is over ... so maybe the students will come out en masse. They do get loud, and Holy Cross players are prone to get rattled from time to time. If there is a distinct home court edge, then I'll hedge and say PVI wins. (I would not that PVI is pretty confident in themselves - they already have put on their school athletics calendar, that they will be playing Flint Hill on Monday. The team that plays Flint Hill (the ISL champ) is the team that wins the WCAC championship. So the Panthers - or at least their online schedule - thinks they are going to win on Saturday).

If you want to see two of the best teams in the DMV face each other, then get yourself to Paul VI on Saturday @2:30pm. Don't think there will be another matchup that good, intense and highly-anticipated all year (or at least not until BCC plays Northwest in the sectional finals next weekend!

[spikeball]

Paul VI beat Holy Cross 3-1, and the Panthers are your 2018 WCAC champs!

The game was on PVI's home court, but the Tartans had significantly more fans/students there. They were loud, and may have affected the first set ... Holy Cross rode the emotions to a close win in the first set, and the first half of the second set. But after that, PVI went on cruise control ... thanks to their ball control. At one point between the middle of the second set and the middle of the fourth set, I think PVI outscored Holy Cross something like 50-25. Holy Cross made a last ditch run in the fourth set, but it was too little, too late. All six PVI players on the floor can do everything at least at a "good" level - passing in particular. Their bigs can pass, and they have the best defensive player in the conference (maybe in the area), and they just kept plays alive over and over again. Holy Cross had more athleticism, size, and power, and they were blocking the heck out of it early in the match, but the Panthers were just relentless, as they have been all season. They made very few mistakes, and just wore out Holy Cross. In particular, PVI served the ball incredibly well. It was also a bit surprising to see the emotionally roller coaster out of Holy Cross and Coach Geiser. Their players were very loud and energetic and happy early on, as was Coach Dave. But when things started to go PVI's way, the attitude of the Holy Cross players changed DRAMATICALLY. There was obvious and audible on-court bickering ... coach Dave started pulling players mid-serve ... the Tartan girls clearly got nervous and tightened up big time. Some of their better players stopped playing well - their setter (Nicole Dao) committed back to back errors (a double and then a miscommunication), their 1st team libero (Riley Parchment) had a stretch of mediocre passes that kept them out of system, Maddie Ewers - usually one of their better players - was so out of sorts on serve receive (she missed 3 in a row at one point) that she was one of the players that got the early hook by Coach Dave ... he also yanked their freshman setter (Jackie Bardin) in the middle of the 4th set, but she was actually playing pretty well. Seemed like a 'panic' move by a coach/team that isn't used to be on the losing end of a WCAC championship game.

On the other/winning side of the net, PVI was just surgical, methodical, and consistent throughout. I don't know if it is just the personality of the players - or if Coach Farrar teaches this ... but PVI was NEVER rattled. They never got down when AHC got out to a hot start; they never flinched or reacted to the LOUD Holy Cross student section; they didn't blink when Holy Cross was blocking PVI over and over again out of the gate. Instead, they just kept huddling together and barely had any emotion. Sam Farrar showed his coaching chops - and why he definitely deserved coach of the year this season - by making good, solid adjustments (rather than the panicked, reactionary ones on the other side). Coach Farrar had his players in slightly different positions on defense, and he got his players to deal with the big Holy Cross block by tips and/or hitting off the block. Holy Cross was unable to generate much offense (other than off the block), and when PVI avoided giving up those easy points, it became a battle of defense and fundamentals ... and Paul VI had TONS more of that than Holy Cross did (tonight, and all season long).

Next year, assuming there are not any transfers out ... Holy Cross and PVI will likely be meeting again for the title. AHC loses a setter, OH and middle (Nicole Dao, Maddie Ewers and Courtney Okwara), but they have freshman who are as good or better at each position (Jackie Bardie, Addi Bounds, and Hannah Sherman). HC's two best players this year - Ale Serrano (2nd team WCAC) and Riley Parchment (1st team WCAC) - will return as seniors (and no doubt the team captains).

PVI loses their setter (Katie Maher) and all-world libero (Jessie Page), but will return an incredible front row including POY (Mary Page), and two 2nd team all-WCAC hitters (Elena Sanchez and Charlotte Rodgers). Their setter is good but replaceable; the bigger issue for Coach Farrar is that he will need to find someone to take over in the back row. They won't be able to overpower Holy Cross (or - frankly - O'Connell or SJC either) next year, and will need to win with strong passing and serving, like they did this year.

The future of the WCAC is extremely bright next year. SJC and O'Connell each only lose one player for next year - the setter for both teams. They both happened to be 1st-team WCAC players (Lauren Antonucci for SJC and Kelly Moriarty for DJO), and it is unclear if either team has a capable setter to step in. Crazy how the top four teams in the conference are all losing their 1st team all-conference setter (PVI's setter + AHC's setter was 1st team last year (didn't make it this year because of injury)). SJC in particular will still be powerful up front (Rachel Richardson (1st team), Nicole Taylor (2nd team), and freshman Sam Foster); their libero (Quincy Waters) will be a senior and their capable freshman DS should take a big step forward, and the two of them should stabilize the back row. Even if the Cadets find a capable setter, they'll still be a middle hitter away from being able to knock off PVI or AHC ... but SJC should be no worse than 3rd (again) next year. While O'Connell is in a similar spot - with two incredible hitters (Skye Ferris, who will be a senior) and Anna Drahozal (who will be a sophomore). They form a six-rotation duo that should be able to hang with the other top 4 teams. But compared to SJC, the Knights actually do have strong middles (James and Millora Brown) and an even better libero (Sydney Amos). And I think Moriarty will be easier to replace than Antonucci at setter, so the drop off for DJO at that position won't be as significant. Looking ahead to next year, I think O'Connell may have the edge over St. John's and - in fact - they are probably closer to AHC/PVI than to SJC. After the top 4 teams, there should be a pretty major drop off. Ryken - other than being able to pull off some head scratching upsets at home - just don't have the horses; they are losing some talent and will be lucky to finish 5th. Lucky for them, Good Counsel - which was a bit of a train wreck this season in not coming close to meeting their expectations - is losing their two best players (Lauren Kiss and Celia Larson, each 2nd team WCAC) along with their setter. It's hard to see OLGC being better next year ... but it's also hard to watch this program, which had won like 5 WCAC titles in a row before the Holy Cross dynasty began, in the bottom half of the standings year after year. Seton/Ireton/McNamara will be stuck near the cellar again next year.

That is it for the WCAC this year.

Good luck to all of the MCPS schools, and good luck to all of the girls in their club tryouts and club season!