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After defeating highly favored Thomas Dale 3-0 on their home court in the regional opener, the Atlee girls volleyball team was expected to have an easier time in their semifinal match with Mills Godwin. On the line was a chance for the Raiders to join Hanover in the regional final creating a first ever All-Capital District regional championship with both teams earning a berth in the state tournament. However, the inexperience of the young Lady Raiders came to the forefront against the underrated Godwin squad and Atlee fell 12-25, 25-18, 14-25, 11-25.

  Despite the lopsided final scores, most of the games were not even that close. In game one, Godwin jumped out to a 20-5 lead before Atlee rallied to create the final margin.

  Though the Lady Raiders regrouped to win game two 25-18, the victory was only a blip on the Godwin radar as they rolled through the final two to win the match with leads similar to game one.

  “I think our inexperience at this point of the season kind of shined through tonight,” said Atlee head coach Curtis Carpenter. “It’s unfortunate because I hated to see, especially for our seniors, to see it end like this because they definitely know they didn’t play as well as they have.”

  Carpenter said his team came into the match with the goal of making school history. “Our volleyball program has never been to states,” he told his team. “That would be history. I said, ‘go out and make history tonight’, unfortunately we just fell a little short.”

  While inexperience played a major factor in the loss, Atlee could also attribute a portion of their defeat to their opponent. “They’re an experienced team,” Carpenter said of Godwin. “They’ve played arguably, probably the toughest schedule in the state and that schedule’s paying off for them now.”

  Carpenter’s words proved true when Godwin later swept Hanover to claim the regional title.

  But despite the loss, Atlee had much to be proud of by defying the odds and reaching the regional semi-finals when few, including their coach could have predicted such at the beginning of the season. “All-in-all we were a whole lot better than what I expected,” Carpenter said.

  And though their losses were disproportionate with their effort, the Raiders did show moments of inspired play and hints towards a bright future.

  Throughout most of the match, sophomore Jordyn Richardson riddled Godwin with a powerful jump serve while freshman Meg Bowers performed beyond her age. “Jordyn, that’s my youth,” Carpenter said. “She’s a sophomore. What little mistakes she made is that youth. Meg Bowers, she’s a freshman.

  “The biggest thing,” Carpenter said. “I have to sit back and think about it is they’re young kids. They haven’t been playing that long. If we keep on playing with experience like this we’ll be incredible. We’ll see what happens.”
  For Atlee, Meredith Bowers had 23 assists while Katilynn Allen had 13 digs and Rachael Winfrey added nine kills and six digs.

  Elizabeth Drewery led Godwin with 17 kills and 14 digs, and Megham Meleski added 32 assists and 13 digs. Maggie Murphy had 10 digs.

Atlee…......... 12 25 14 11
Mills Godwin….. 25 18 25 25