Semifinal night in the Virginia High School League Group AAA girls volleyball tournament didn’t turn out so good for Central Region champion Atlee and runner-up Deep Run.

Stone Bridge of Ashburn defeated Atlee 25-22, 30-28, 25-18, and Kellam of Virginia Beach eliminated Deep Run 25-18, 25-21, 21-25, 25-21 at the Siegel Center last night.

Northern Region champion Stone Bridge will meet Eastern Region champ Kellam at 7 p.m. tomorrow in the final.

It’s the first time in the championship match for both teams.

It’s the third year in a row since Deep Run won the second of back-to-back state titles that a team from the Central Region hasn’t made it to the final.

Atlee (26-2) met its match against the Bulldogs. One of Atlee’s strengths is its balanced attack. Points can come from anywhere. Stone Bridge is equally balanced and taller. Middle hitter Alexandra Heyn, who is headed to Ohio State, is 6-4.

“They could attack from anywhere, and they had big swingers across the front,” Atlee outside hitter Meg Bowers said.

Added outside hitter/setter Karlie Suber, “We hadn’t played a team with a strong middle.” The Raiders had lost just five sets this season.

The first set last night was tight throughout. The score was tied at 20, 21 and 22 before the Bulldogs won the last three points and the set.

“We tend to start slow, not by choice, and feel the other team out,” Stone Bridge coach
Jill Raschiatore said. “All of a sudden we turn it on.”

The second set was an uphill climb for the Raiders, who fell behind 17-11. With Hailey Brooks, Katy Stiles, Suber and Bowers contributing points, Atlee rallied. The Bulldogs regained the momentum and led 24-21. Kills from Brooks and Stiles and ace from Brooks knotted the score.
The teams traded points to 28-28. Atlee errors gave the Bulldogs the winning two points.

The Bulldogs raced to a 9-1 lead in third set, but the Raiders rallied again to tie at 13 on back-to-back aces by Brooks. She served what appeared to be a third straight ace, but the serve was called out. Stone Bridge outscored Atlee 11-5 from there.

Jitters from the first time in a state semifinal affected the Raiders more than the Bulldogs.

“We weren’t as composed as we have been,” Atlee coach Curtis Carpenter said. “We had a pretty good season. We exceeded expectations but came up short.”

Kellam won the first two games and appeared in control against Deep Run, but the Wildcats (24-7) out-battled the Knights in the third game.

“If we had started sooner, I think we would have seen better results, but we stayed together when we were down,” said Central Region player of the year Chaney LaReau, who had 19 kills and 16 digs in her final high school match.

Kellam bolted to a big lead in the fourth set, but Deep Run closed to 21-20 before another kill by Cheyanne James and Wildcats’ errors ended the match.

James, a junior, logged 23 kills, eight digs and four blocks.

“When we all walked in, we knew Kellam would be tough, but I thought we could do some things to counter them,” said Deep Run coach Terra Balla, who is stepping down after eight years as coach with more than 150 victories, two state titles and a state runner-up finish. We adjusted in the third game and that gave us momentum. [We’re] a team that plays with heart. Strategy is a small part. There’s nothing about the match I’d take back.”

Arthur Utley is a staff writer for the Richmond Times Dispatch.