All season long, Hanover boys volleyball coach Mike Rohr felt his Hawks had the talent to beat Atlee. Though Hanover lost only two Capital District matches, they both came at the hands of the Raiders and the regular season ended with Rohr winless against Hanover’s rival team. Still the coach believed his team was good enough to win.

  “They’re great and they play some great, unbelievable defense,” Rohr said. “I tell you what, we felt all year if we put everything together and we were consistent, we could play with them.”

  Last Wednesday in the Capital District championship match at Glen Allen High School, Rohr finally saw his Hawks complete the mission and take Atlee down 3-1; 28-26, 28-26, 22-25, 25-22. The fact that this victory earned them the district tournament trophy only made things sweeter. 

  “Tonight we finally stepped up and played the way we’re capable of playing against them,” Rohr said.

  The Hawks’ final regular season meeting with Atlee gave them motivation. “The last game we played them, we beat them one game and that kind of made them buck,” said Hanover’s Tyler Peck. “The mentality was we had to stay focused and show them we can beat them and we did.”

  Ironically, the match did not start as if Hanover even had a chance. Atlee raced out of the gate to a 7-2 lead on consecutive back-line kills from Davis Ellenberger.

  But seeing the game slipping away, Hanover came alive. Back-to-back kills from William Atwood started an 8-2 run for the Hawks to knot the game at 10-10.

  The Raiders edged ahead 13-10 but back-to-back aces from Hanover’s Dyan Renick tied the game at 13 to continue a series of nip and tuck.

  Atlee took a 19-17 lead on a Hanover lift but the Hawks answered. A kill and ace from Atwood, a tipped shot from Hunter Locks and a misplayed ball by the Raiders gave Hanover a 21-20 lead.

  A tip shot from Peck put Hanover at set point but the Hawks next shot went out of bounds to tie the game at 24-24.

  Atlee took the advantage on a kill from Mac Gray then gave the point back on a service error. The Raiders edged ahead once again on a Hanover service error but Locks stole the point back on a tip setting up the Hawks 28-26 win on an Atwood block and a Raiders mishit.

  “Things went our way in the first game,” Rohr said. “I thought we did a good job of holding off the storm at the end of the first game and coming back and getting it. I thought that was a big lift and I think that carried over into the second game.”

  The second set followed a similar pattern with Atlee holding a 15-12 lead only to see Hanover reel off eight straight points for a 20-15 lead.

  Throughout, the Hawks refused to yield on any ball that came their way. “It’s never take your head out of the game,” Peck said. “Any ball that you dive for could possibly be a point and every ball that we dove for was a point or an attempted point that changed the game. It showed them that we were not going to give up.”

  But Atlee had an answer. Trailing 22-17, the Raiders reeled off seven straight points with Kevin Eye at serve, capped by an ace and a 23-22 lead.

  Hanover moved to set point three times only to see Atlee answer. But with the game knotted at 26, Peck slammed a dunk shot over the net and another Raider mishit gave game two to the Hawks 28-26.

  With their backs against the wall, Atlee came out strong in game three. Like the two previous sets Hanover battled but this time the Raiders found their edge at the same time the Hawks lost theirs. With the game tied at 22, Atlee took the win on a Matt Rohr kill and two misplayed balls by Hanover.

  “I think we got thinking a little too much about winning in the third game,” Coach Rohr said. “I was a little worried when they took the third one because this game is so momentum. Once you win that third one you’ve only got to win one more to get it to five then it’s all even.”

  But Peck said the Hawks were not concerned even after they lost a set. “We had it in our heads, we knew we could beat them,” he said. “We knew we could do it.”

  Still, Atlee looked as if they were going tie the match once they had pulled out to a 19-15 lead in the fourth set but Hanover regrouped.

  “You’ve got the same guys that I thought were kind of losing it a little bit mentally caught themselves and got themselves back in the game mentally and really took charge,” Rohr said, complimenting Peck, Locks, Atwood, Hazelwood and Renick. “I think we got away from the things we were doing well there for a little while.”

  Atwood knotted the game at 20 on a vicious kill but Atlee edged head on a kill from Matt Rohr. Atwood tied the contest again and Andrew Price answered for Atlee, giving the Raiders a 22-21 lead.

  But Peck and his fellow Hawks were hungry. “I was saying all night, ‘Feed the machine. Feed the machine’,” he said. “I was so hungry for this one. We all said to each other, this game all comes down to who wants this trophy the most. We looked at this trophy 15 times in the timeouts saying, ‘Who wants that more? We want it more! We want it more!’”

  The Hawks showed how much they wanted it, not letting Atlee score again. Atwood blasted home a kill and Locks aced the Raiders. Another kill from Atwood put the Hawks a match point then they claimed the trophy 25-22 on a Renick kill.

Hanover…..................... 28 28 22 25
Atlee…........................... 26 26 25 22

Highlights: Davis Ellenberger (A) 11 kills, 5 girls, 2 blocks; Matt Rohr (A) 18 kills, 6 digs; Tyler Peck (H) 10 kills, 8 digs, 7 kills
Records: Hanover 16-4; Atlee 20-3