Photo by Charlie Leffler
Atlee’s Jordan Stringfellow (8) and Kyle Rodgers (7) rise up to block a shot from repeat Capital District Player of the Year, Highland Springs’ Quentin Moore (14).

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Atlee boys claim Capital District Tournament title

  At first glance, this year’s district finals appeared to be a replay of last year.  Highland Springs’ Quentin Moore was voted Player of the Year and Springers’ Coach Richard Starr was Coach of the Year. Also like last year, Highland Springs faced off with Atlee for the championship. But this time there would be no epic tie-breaker; and it would be the Raiders to hold the Trophy as they swept the Springers in three hard-fought sets; 25-21, 25-18, 25-21.

  On the night Atlee turned in a team effort with 30 kills, 12 blocks and 21 digs. “It truly was a complete team effort,” said Atlee’s Andy Crane, filling in for head coach Michelle Black. “The guys on the bench were into the game.  They’re almost like coaches at times because they know each other so well.  It’s really a good feeling.”

  As with last year, the names on the rosters remained virtually unchanged, as both teams now more seasoned, found themselves on opposite sides of the net challenging once again for the District Title.  Without question, play was high level, high velocity and action packed as each team, coming from a proud heritage of excellence in volleyball, laid it all out for the win.  With many the players on both teams playing together year round, each team was well aware of the other’s strengths and weaknesses; and both teams brought game to the table. It was just that the Raiders brought more of it. 

  “We served more aggressive tonight than we have in the past,” Crane said.  “But we know each other so well.  The coach and I, Richard Starr are personal friends, and the boys who I’ve coached; those boys have travelled also.  It’s always fun to play them.  We know they’re going to give an effort that’s equal to ours.  So there was no special strategy.  We knew we needed to block better than we did the last time.  We definitely had to serve better and pass better.”

  For Atlee, junior Kyle Rodgers came up time and again with outstanding blocks on huge hits from Moore and his Springer ball-slamming compadres like senior George Green.  “Kyle has really improved over the last couple of weeks,” Crane said. “Kyle was really working on his technique blocking and it showed tonight; and he got his hand over the net and did what we needed him to do.”

  Another player that took his game to another level was fellow junior Kody Tingler. “Kody is one of those young men that, you look at him and he’s kind of thick and he’s six foot, and he jumps out of the gym,” Crane said. “So he surprises some people; he doesn’t surprise Highland Springs because they know him.” 

  But championships do not come without leaders and Atlee team captains, Justin Crane and Jonathan Sperlazza leveraged their leadership and skills to help the team cohere and remain consistent.  “Justin talks a lot, but sometimes he’s overly emotional because he is so intense,” Andy Crane said.  “The person who a lot of times talks and keeps us together, and it’s not loud, is Jonathan Sperlazza.  He serves, he passes and he hits.  People don’t look at him as a hitter, and he can surprise a lot of people.  He’s a really smart player.”

  In the two regular season matchups between Atlee and Highland Springs, each home team walked away with a sweep of their opponents. Therefore, each had plenty of notebook material to work on. “We mainly worked on blocking this week, and covering the defense,” Sperlazza said. “When we played at their [Highland Springs’] gym, we had four blocks on them the whole time; (tonight) we had about 16 against them.  Our passing was also something that improved; and our offense actually ran, so that was good.”

  Justin Crane, sporting a Mohawk for team motivation, was one pumped up Raider grinning ear to ear from the victory.  “It’s awesome,” he said.  “Highland Springs is a great team and we came out excited.  We put up out sets; we put the ball down.  Robert Chilcoat played amazing.  We made our serves.  The energy…WOW!  We had a good fan section today.  We knew that our gym…we had to defend it.  So we came out and we did it.  We won.  I wasn’t necessarily surprised.  I knew they would be close games.  Winning in three is always awesome.

  “Everyone stepped up really well,” Crane said. “We made our serves, we made our sets; we made out hits.  We made our passes really well…especially against player of the year, Quentin Moore.  He’s a great hitter; and he played well.”

  Atlee entered regional play on Monday evening when they traveled to Deep Run.
Atlee ...................................25 25 25
Highland Springs…...........21 18 21
Records: Atlee 18-3; Highland Springs 18-4