It took a few weeks of tinkering for the lineup to be firmed up for the Flint Hill Huskies.
Now firmly in place, the arrangement has helped the perennial power girls high-school volleyball team improve, own a 17-2 overall record, and as has been the case for so many seasons, be ranked No. 1 in the Division 1 Virginia private-schools state poll.
The Huskies are the six-time defending Division I state champions, a title the team has won 12 times in program history.
In a recent match, Flint Hill defeated the No. 2 ranked and host Bishop O’Connell Knights, 3-0, in a close match. Earlier in the season, when the lineup was still being adjusted, O’Connell defeated the Huskies, 2-0, in the semifinals of Flint Hill’s invitational tournament.
Flint Hill has won seven straight matches since that loss.
“We tried different lineups by moving players around to positions they were not used to playing to see what worked best for us,” Flint Hill coach Thai Nguyen said. “We made some mistakes trying to figure things out, and finally set on a lineup. We are now doing very well and beginning to gel at the right time.”
The experimenting was necessary because Flint Hill graduated some key starters from last season’s team. Nguyen said the Huskies learned from the early-season loss to O’Connell.
“We looked at the film from that match and increased our blocking efficiency in the rematch, and that worked out well,” he said.
The Huskies won the second match by scores of 25-20, 25-23, 25-21.
“The scores are close every time these two teams play,” Nguyen said.
Top players for the Flint Hill squad are its three seniors: Isabelle Bardin, Audrey Sealock and Kadi Pynchon. Bardin is among team leaders in assists (178), kills (267) and digs (120). Pynchon has 181 digs, including 21 in the win over O’Connell. Sealock has 130 kills and 119 digs.
Bardin will play in college at Purdue University and Pynchon at Lafayette College.
Sophomores Hunter Ross (143 kills and 34 blocks), Ava Zender (215 assists) and Caroline Semko (120 digs) are other top players, along with junior Camdyn Parker.
Key upcoming regular-season Independent School League matches for Flint Hill will be against Potomac School and Georgetown Day, which handed the Huskies their only other loss this season. Potomac School is ranked No. 3 in the state.
“The overall level of play in the ISL is much better than it has been in a long time,” Nguyen said. “Some matches are much closer for us this season.”
