Going out with a bang

Culpeper coach Chris White made sure his seniors would remember Thursday night.

Up 2-0 in the match and 24-12 in game three, White called a timeout with one point remaining in his seniors’ last game on their home court.

“I figured I’d let them get a chance before the match was completely over for it to just soak in a little bit,” White said.

Senior Kara Connolly aced the next serve out of the time out to beat King George 3-0 (25-9, 25-9, 25-12) on the Devilettes’ senior night.

After the pregame festivities, senior Kelly Dubell made sure Culpeper started out strong as the Devilettes raced out to a 12-1 start when she had nine straight service points, including five aces.

“Kelly Dubell, she did a phenomenal job serving,” Senior Megan Chamberlin said. “We were actually talking about how we were getting a little antsy — ready to play. We were just switching at the net and she was getting ace after ace.”

Dubell finished the night 23-of-25 serving with 13 aces to lead Culpeper. She also gave her team a 10-0 lead in game two, this time with nine straight service points and seven aces.

“I told them all season long, ‘you serve really well you’ve got a really great chance of winning,’” White said. “It’s like that at any level.”

All seven members of the Culpeper squad recorded an ace on the night, as senior Kristen Hall hit five and Chamberlin launched four. Chamberlin also tallied 11 kills.

“It’s bittersweet we don’t want to have our last home game but it’s nice to win it,” Chamberlin said. “It’s a good feeling although it’s sad that we won’t be having any more home games.”

The seniors credited their JV squad, who also beat King George 2-0 Thursday, for making their senior night memorable.

“The JV girls did a great job of making us feel like were the best seniors ever,” Chamberlin said. “They made us feel really special.”

Of course, getting the win didn’t hurt.

“I’ve been playing for a while and year after year we haven’t really done well on senior night,” Dubell said. “So it feels amazing that it’s my turn and we won.”

Culpeper (11-7, 10-4 Battlefield District) moves into the Battlefield District tournament as the No. 3 seed. They will face No. 2 Courtland at King George High School Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

“Were playing a team that we played twice,” White said. “We should have beat them the first time, we could have beat them the second time and now it’s time to beat them.”