The Atlee boys volleyball team finished last week with a 2-0 against county teams, defeating both Lee-Davis and Patrick Henry is straight sets.

  Both contests showed that the No. 2 ranked Raiders (7-1, Capital 4-0) are a quality team but one that is still adjusting to five players in new positions.
  After relatively breezing through their first two sets against both the Confederates (2-3, 0-2) and Patriots (3-4), Atlee found themselves in a real battle to close out each match.

  But for Raiders assistant coach Andy Crane it was just a part of playing county rivals. “We were expecting what we got,” he said. “Any time we face a fellow county school we know that they’re going to scrap and they want to beat us as bad as we want to beat them.”

  Against Lee-Davis, Atlee raced ahead, winning the first two sets 25-6 and 25-16 but coming out of the break they faced a challenge from a strong C-fed rally before winning 25-23.

  The Raiders’ Thursday night match at Patrick Henry was similar. Atlee claimed the first two sets 25-14 and 25-9 but had to rally to close out the match with a 25-19 win.

  However, neither match displayed anything new for Atlee early in the season, as they have often faced third set battles. But Crane does not attribute the trend to mental lapses. “They’re high school kids so lapses might not be the best word,” he said. “They’re high school kids would probably be the best word. It’s tough sometimes when you get into that third game and they relax a little bit too much. When you do that at any sport and you’re not ready to play you’re going to get yourself in trouble.”

  Each of Atlee’s games at Patrick Henry began as a see-saw affair. In the first set, the Raiders ran out to a 5-2 lead only to watch the Patriots score six straight behind the service of Scott Brigham (6 kills, 4 aces, 3 digs).

  Atlee junior Billy Dishman finally ended the draught with a tip over the net. Then it was the Raiders turn to rally. With Dishman serving, Atlee ran off seven straight to retake the lead 12-8.

  “Billy Dishman, our setter, he’s doing a wonderful job taking over for our setter from last year, he’s doing a nice job,” Crane said. “He’s a junior and it’s tough to walk onto a team where there’s a lot of seniors and be the setter after all these years.”

  A kill by senior Andrew Stanford gave Atlee a 19-14 lead. Stanford who is making the switch from libero to outside hitter then took service and the Raiders reeled off six straight.  Only one of Stanford’s serves was returned and that one resulted in a Kody Tingler (12 kills, 9 digs) kill.

  Patrick Henry provided little challenge in the second set. Trailing 6-5, the Patriots watched Atlee go on a 14-1 run then win 25-9.

  Coming out of the break, Patrick Henry showed renewed effort taking a 7-6 lead on a block from Ian Branch. But Atlee gradually edged in front 18-14 only to watch the Patriots come back within two when Tyler Bowman dropped a well-placed shot in the corner.

  The Raiders Kyle Rodgers (10 kills) scored two of the next three on kills allowing Atlee to close out the third 25-19.

  As Atlee heads into the meat of their Capital District slate Crane said there are still things to work on. “If we can pass we can run our quicker offense and we have a better chance to succeed,” he said. “If you can’t pass you can’t win at any level.” 

Atlee .................................. 25 25 25
Patrick Henry….................. 14   9 19
Highlights: Kody Tingler (A) 12 kills, 9 digs; Kyle Rogers (A) 10 kills; Kevin Awkward (PH) 10 assists, 2 blocks, 2 kills; Scott Brigham (PH) 6 kills, 4 aces, 3 digs; Matt Peinkowski (PH) 7 blocks, 2 kills
Records: Atlee 7-1; Patrick Henry 3-4

Varina ............................14 25 25 19 15
Lee-Davis…....................25 22 17 25 12
Highlights: Paul Johnson (V) 4 digs, 7 aces, 5 kills, 9 assists; Chris Grant (V) 8 kills, 7 blocks; Andrew Grainer (V) 22 assists, 3 aces, 4 digs; Colton Powell (LD) 10 kills, 18 digs, 10 blocks; Michael Abbott (LD) 11 kills, 9 assists; Will Dowdy (LD) 24 assists; Hank Parsley (LD) 8 kills, 9 digs, 6 blocks; Ben Turner (LD) 20 digs
Records: Varina 2-0 Capital, 7-1; Lee-
Davis 0-2, 2-3

Lee-Davis…............................... 6 16 23
Atlee ........................................ 25 25 25
Highlights: Michael Abbott (LD) 9 assists; Colton Powell (LD) 6 kills, 5 blocks; Hank Parsley (LD) 10 kills, 3 blocks; Matt Simmons (A) kill; Andrew Stanford (A) 7 aces, 9 digs; Billy Dishman (A) 3 aces, 3 digs, 26 assists
Records: Lee-Davis 3-3 Capital, 3-5; Atlee
4-0, 6-1