Higher expectations

Banners for each sport line one wall of the small gym at Culpeper County High School proclaiming the accolades each team has received.

While some are covered with rows of dates proclaiming a district, regional or state championship the volleyball team’s banner remains bare.

The Devilettes are hoping to change that in the coming weeks.

“That would be huge,” CCHS coach Chris White said. “The girls would be able to look at that and say ‘that was us, we put five or six years of practice into this and we made it.’ I would look at it and smile every day.”

Seven wins was enough to excite the Devilettes a year ago because that was the most wins in program history, but this year’s team has its sights set on a much loftier goal: A regional playoff berth.

Culpeper has the opportunity to take the first step toward that goal tonight when it travels to King George High School to take on Courtland in the first round of the Battlefield District tournament.

“Last year let us know that we could win games,” White said. “That was a problem in the past, but last season gave us confidence that carried over into this year.”

It’s a four-team tournament, and Culpeper enters as the No. 3 seed. Chancellor is the top seed, Courtland is No. 2 and Spotsylvania rounds out the field.

“We’ve never won a district (title) or had a regional berth,” White said. “Doing that would be huge especially for the seniors because they would have the knowledge that they were able to take a team with some freshman starters all the way to regionals.”

The Devilettes (11-7 overall, 10-4 Battlefield) are a senior-laden team this year, and the veterans have certainly led the way.

Any conversation about the senior leaders has to start with outside hitter Megan Chamberlin.

Chamberlin — a first-team All-Cedar Run District selection three years in a row — racked up 160 kills and 80 aces as a junior, and has 184 kills, 120 aces, 237 digs and 33 blocks so far in her final year at CCHS.

“All my seniors have led by example,” White said. “They’ve talked to the younger girls to let them know what has to be done, and the younger ones have been able to see how the veterans act and learn from it.”

Senior setter Kara Connolly has contributed 308 assists to go along with 37 kills and 27 aces, while senior Kelly Dubell has racked up 61 aces, 32 kills and 367 digs and fellow senior Kristen Hall has 49 aces, 43 kills and 331 digs to her credit.

The seniors’ influence has been so valuable this season because two freshman — Maddie Kyff and Taylor Young — have been starting middle hitters since day one.

Kyff has contributed 22 kills and 17 aces, while Young has 35 kills and 19 aces on her freshman resume.

“Most of these girls have been playing together for a long time,” White said. “That has allowed them to come together as a group, a unit, and that has shown this year.”
Perhaps the Devilettes’ most impressive stat from their first season in the Battlefield is their serving percentage.

The team is serving right around 88 percent. Hall leads the squad with 92.6 percent, followed by Connolly (92.1), Chamberlin (89.2) and Dubell (88.8).

“It’s huge that our team serving percentage has gone up from last year,” White said. “Megan is our third-leading server, and I don’t know that you would even see numbers like that in college, especially with someone that has a jump serve.”

Chamberlin’s powerful, leaping serve has baffled most teams this season, but it wasn’t enough to get a win against the Cougars. The Devilettes faced Courtland twice and came out on the losing end both times.

The first meeting went down to the wire. It was one of the few high school matches to go five games, with the Cougars squeaking out a 3-2 victory.

Their second match went a little differently, though. It only lasted three games, and even though they were all close the Cougars pulled out the 3-0 win.

“The first time we just had one totally dumb play that we just weren’t able to rebound from,” White said. “And even though they swept us the second time, we were just one or two shots away from winning every game, so we can beat them.”

Even though their first two meetings didn’t turn out well for the Devilettes, White is hoping the prospect of a district title and a regional berth will be enough to motivate his girls to victory.

“Courtland is going to come in with all the confidence,” he said. “But how many times does a team beat another team three times in a season? Not very often. So the team that walks in there with the greater will to win will come out on top.”

Follow the Devilettes?

Who: CCHS vs Courtland

What: Battlefield District
volleyball tournament

When: Today at 7:30 p.m.

Where: King George