Leonardtown High School junior libero Elizabeth “EA” Childs, far right, anchored the Raiders’ defense along with Gracie Zartman, bottom, and Carleigh Thayer, top, on Tuesday when they swept host Patuxent 25-9, 25-18, 25-17.
Leonardtown High School volleyball coach Steve Correll talks to his players prior to the third set on Tuesday evening when the Raiders swept host Patuxent 25-9, 25-18, 25-17 in their Southern Maryland Athletic Conference match in Lusby.
Patuxent High School volleyball players huddle for one final cheer prior to the start of Tuesday’s Southern Maryland Athletic Conference match against visiting Leonardtown. The Panthers got off to a slow start and never recovered en route to being swept by the Raiders 25-9, 25-18, 25-17 in Lusby.
Patuxent High School outside hitter Ema Heinhorst prepares for a jump serve in the opening set of Tuesday’s Southern Maryland Athletic Conference match against visiting Leonardtown. Henihorst and the Panthers were swept by the visiting Raiders 25-9, 25-18, 25-17 on Tuesday in Lusby.
Leonardtown High School junior libero Elizabeth “EA” Childs, far right, anchored the Raiders’ defense along with Gracie Zartman, bottom, and Carleigh Thayer, top, on Tuesday when they swept host Patuxent 25-9, 25-18, 25-17.
Staff photo by Ted Black
Leonardtown High School volleyball coach Steve Correll talks to his players prior to the third set on Tuesday evening when the Raiders swept host Patuxent 25-9, 25-18, 25-17 in their Southern Maryland Athletic Conference match in Lusby.
Staff photo by Ted Black
Patuxent High School volleyball players huddle for one final cheer prior to the start of Tuesday’s Southern Maryland Athletic Conference match against visiting Leonardtown. The Panthers got off to a slow start and never recovered en route to being swept by the Raiders 25-9, 25-18, 25-17 in Lusby.
Staff photo by Ted Black
Patuxent High School outside hitter Ema Heinhorst prepares for a jump serve in the opening set of Tuesday’s Southern Maryland Athletic Conference match against visiting Leonardtown. Henihorst and the Panthers were swept by the visiting Raiders 25-9, 25-18, 25-17 on Tuesday in Lusby.
One year after reaching the 4A state title for the first time in program history with a senior-laden roster, the Leonardtown High School volleyball team has displayed few signs of going through a rebuilding process during the early portion of the current season.
On Tuesday evening, Leonardtown (5-0) made quick work of host Patuxent (1-4) as the Raiders swept the host Panthers 25-9, 25-18 and 25-17 behind a bevy of quality serves and a tall, talented front row. Leonardtown’s serving skills were prominent in the opener when the Raiders collected 18 service winners that included eight serving aces against a catatonic Panthers’ back row.
“I was very pleased with the way we served tonight,” said Leonardtown coach Steve Correll. “We were able to get out early and that enabled us to be a little more aggressive on our attacks. After that first set, I give Patuxent a lot of credit for holding together. They gave us a good fight in the second and third sets, which is what we needed.”
Each set began, ironically, with Patuxent scoring the first point, but the early tepid advantages never amounted to a serious run. In fact, in the opener Leonardtown immediately countered with senior Gabbi Broadus reeling off five straight winners that included four aces. And later in the first set setter Morgan Johnson recorded five straight service winners and junior libero Elizabeth “EA” Childs delivered four more for a 19-5 lead.
“I was very happy with my serves tonight,” said Childs, who Correll quickly described as the best libero that he has ever coached. “I thought all of the girls did a really good job serving. Overall, I thought I did a good job passing from the back row and Morgan did a really good job setting the girls in the front row.”
While the opener had ended quickly, the second set proved to be considerably more competitive. Both teams were tied on five occasions early until Leonardtown used an 8-2 run to forge a 15-9 advantage. But the Panthers countered by scoring five of the next six points to trim the gap to 16-14 before the Raiders closed out the set on a 9-4 run.
Patuxent actually scored the first two points of the third set for a 2-0 lead that proved its biggest of the night. But the Raiders gradually pulled away during the middle stages of the game on service runs from Childs, Johnson and Kara Willen, with blocks and attack points up from from Katherine McHugh, Gracie Zartman and Gretchen Brady who were equally as effective in the first two sets.
“We were just way too tentative on serve receives that first set,” said Patuxent coach Kevin Keller. “They had some great serves and we just did not move to cover the floor. I thought we did a better job passing and blocking the second and third games. I might have to make a few changes to our rotation and see if that helps.”
Patuxent outside hitter Ema Heinhorst served and hit well, while Kayla Patz held her own in the middle against the slew of Leonardtown hitters up front. Junior Abbey Birch served very well and had several attack points and Amiya Jones provided service winners for the Panthers early in the first and third sets.
