Their strategy of building early leads in as many sets possible worked and won a region volleyball championship for the Chantilly Chargers.
Host Chantilly (22-2-1) defeated the Langley Saxons, 3-1, Wednesday night (Nov. 13) in the title match of the girls 6D North Region high-school tournament. The region crown was the Chargers’ second in three seasons, as the squad also topped Langley in the 2022 final at Chantilly.
Langley had defeated the Chargers in last season’s region semifinals.
“They are good, we know that, and this has become a big rivalry the last few seasons,” Chantilly coach Daniel Molina said. “To defeat them, you have to start fast right from the get go, and we were able to do that.”
The victory was the 13th in a row for the Chargers.
Chantilly won the first two sets and the fourth. The Chargers had a 3-1 lead in the opening set, were ahead 5-1 in the second and 7-1 in the fourth, winning the three by 25-17, 25-17 and 25-18 scores.
Langley (25-2) bounced back to win the third set, 25-14, after building an early 4-1 lead. The loss ended its 20-match winning streak.
“We knew they would adjust and respond, then we had to adjust back again in the next set,” Molina said.
The Chargers were led as they have been for four seasons by senior hitter Lameen Mambu. She had 21 kills, two service aces and multiple blocks and digs. Mambu will play in college at Georgia Tech.
“Look what she did. She’s an all-around player for us, not just a hitter,” Molina said. “She has been our heart and soul for four years.”
Also in the region final for Chantilly, Erin Green had eight kills; Skyler Riley had six kills and multiple blocks; Julia Horan had a handful of kills and blocks; Nola Murphy had three service aces; Sarah Kim added a couple of kills, four blocks and had 19 assists; Ashley Giop had an ace; and Apria Smith, Gabriella Roper, Hala Younes (16 assists) and Gabrielle Nelson contributed with blocks, kills or service winners.
Langley coach Susan Shifflett had hoped the Saxons would play the whole match as they did the third set.
“We had so many unforced errors. That really hurt us,” she said.
Senior hitter Ana Toumazatos had 18 kills for Langley, to go with three aces and many blocks. Rujuta Singh had 12 kills, Vivian Nitowski had nine kills, Chloe Lin had three, Hanna Herbolsheimer added three with an ace, Ava Barnett-McKenzie had a couple of kills and aces, Hailey Park had a kill, and setter Claire Mo led the offense with many digs and assists.
Mo was chosen as this season’s region Player of the Year.
Chantilly was 3-0 in the region tourney and Langley, 2-1. Chantilly defeated the McLean Highlanders, 3-0, in the first round, then the Marshall Statesmen, 3-0, in the semifinals. Mambu and Green led the way with kills in those matches.
Langley defeated the Centreville Wildcats, 3-0, then the defending champion Madison Warhawks, 3-1, in the semifinals. Langley lost the first set to Madison, 25-21, then won the next three, 25-20, 25-9, 25-9. Toumazato, who will play at James Madison University, had 35 kills in the match.
Prior to the region tournament, Chantilly and Langley both won district-tournament championships.
Both Chantilly and the defending champion Saxons advance to the Virginia High School League Class 6 state tournament. They will play first round matches on Saturday (Nov. 16). Chantilly will host Patriot at 5 p.m. Langley will play at Colgan at 7 p.m.
Langley will be trying to win its fourth state title, Chantilly its first.
