It’s been a few days since the Langley Saxons won a second straight and fourth overall state girls volleyball championship. But the team’s head coach already is looking ahead to what might be possible next season.
That’s what coaches do, when they are in charge of high-school programs that have enjoyed the sustained success the Saxons have.
Langley will lose a number of key players to graduation from this fall’s team that finished 28-2 and capped the campaign by winning the Virginia High School League Class 6 state crown. The Saxons, though, also will return a number of top players who were major contributors.
One will be Class 6 state Player of the Year Claire Mo. She also was the 6D North Region and Liberty District Player of the Year, as well, this fall.
Mo was among statistical Langley leaders in categories like assists, digs and service aces. She also had a number of kills and other winners.
Hailey Park, Isabelle Anastas and Rujuta Singh will be other key returners. Singh particularly came on strong as the season progressed as an outside hitter, with double-digit kills in multiple playoff matches. Park was a steady force all season.
Langley also will have players moving up to varsity from freshman and junior-varsity teams that each had 13-1 records. There also were varsity role players this fall who will be counted on significantly more in 2025.
“I told the players this year if they wanted to repeat as state champions, they had to accept the grind to do so, because this is a big grind and exhausting,” said Susan Shifflett, who has been the only head coach of the Langley program since its beginning in 1999.
Shifflett ended this season with 530 career wins, among the most in VHSL history.
