Lady Cavs Break Thru To Finals March 7, 2009
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In a very real way, although I’m sure Coach Rowe and the players and the fans would never admit it, everything this season was a prelude to Friday’s state Division III semi-final game. That’s because the 2007 and 2008 seasons ended right at this stage, with a loss in the semi-final game. Almost immediately following last year’s tough loss at Paul VI school in Fairfax, the strong crop of returning players each vowed that “next year” would be different. Next year would not end with a semi-final loss.
Well, next year is here…. and next year is, in fact, different. Back at Paul VI, the second seed StoneBridge faced off with sixth seed Tandem Friends from Charlottesville. The teams met earlier in the year and SBS came away with a 20+-point victory. But the rematch started out quite differently. Tandem mostly handled the SBS press early stayed close throughout the first two quarters. Caitlyn Unsworth led the way with several key buckets and Dani Cribb added a key three-pointer to help keep SBS on top. The halftime score of 22-18 left the strong contingent of SBS fans a bit nervous as the teams headed for the break.
Coach Rowe’s Cavs started the second half determined to do two things: continue to wear down the younger Tandem team with a variety of pressing defenses… and pound the ball down low. And they did. A special set offense designed to get Sarah Tabb and Ashley Foster the ball in the post resulted in early third-quarter buckets, which translated into press-induced turnovers, and the lady Cavs were on a roll. A 20-5 third quarter roll, in fact, that essentially put the game out of reach much to the delight of Trey and the dozens of SBS students who were on hand.
It seemed as if the seniors simply were not going to be denied this breakthrough game and a trip to the finals. Ashley Foster basically took over the low post, finishing with 14 points. If it’s possible to score a “quiet” 24 points (while battling the flu!), Caitlyn U managed to do it. She has a way of making the game look easy, until you step on the court with her and try to stop her. Good luck.
One year ago after a semifinal loss, the SBS girls stood in the hallway of the Paul VI gym and determined to write a different story in 2009. A goal was set. Thanks to 12 months of hard work and determination — and a carefully planned road map set out by Coach Rowe and his staff — things are different this year. Stonebridge 53, Tandem 31.
One more game. Bring on Carlisle!
Open Volleyball Nites at SBS! February 28, 2009
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After Spring Break we’re going to have Open Volleyball at the gym, Thursday nights at 6:30. We want to have competitive play so come ready to bump/set/spike. Moms and dad… boys and girls…
StoneBridge And Broadwater face off on Big Saturday February 28, 2009
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Five games. Three venues. Ultimately, two schools would be left standing to face off on a Big Saturday to remember in the Metro conference.
To start things off, the semi and final rounds of the JJV 8 boys and girls tournaments took place in Isle of Wight (girls) and Atlanti Shores (boys). On the boys side, StoneBridge won their semi final game whih set up a re-match with Broadwater, which had pegged SBS JJV 8 boys with their lone conference defeat earlier in the season. On the girls side, SBS’s young team extended its record to 11-3 in a thrilling double overtime victory over top-ranked Portsmouth Christian. It was sweet revenge for SBS after losing the lead and the game in overtime at PCS during the regular season. Christina Cash and Ellen Lee led the way for the Cavs in what turned out to be a 2:15 marathon that pushed Coach Cal and his team’s second game to a mid afternoon start.
By the time the girls hit the floor for their final, the JJV8 boys were putting the finishing touches on their conferene championship. Luke Unsworth and Josepth Gutshaw led the way throughout the season and are setting themselves up to be a solid inside-outside threat for SBS basketball throughout their high school careers. On the girls side, Broadwater proved to be too much but our girls continued to play hard until the final whistle. The season? A tremendous success: 11-4 record, the second place trophy in the conference tournament and a bright future for these young girls.
Coach Cal, whose day began with the trek 30 miles west to Isle of Wight for a 10am game, darted out of the gym some time passed 3pm and began the long trip to Broadwater for the boys game. Unfortunately for our boys, they fell at Broadwater, dropping them to fourth in the conference. But the day was a tremendous success, especially with two competitive schools facing off in three venues. I’m still a relative newbie to the Metro, but I can say that Broadwater is earning a fine reputation with me. Their teams always are prepared. Their kids always play hard and with respect. Their fans are cordial. I couldn’t think of a better team to face on Big Saturday.
SBS “Homecoming” Cavs Take Down Hampton Christian February 21, 2009
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Dateline: February 20, 2009, Hampton Christian School
Okay, if you are looking for some excitement… If you want to recapture what it is like to live in a “small town”…. If you want to see some really good small school basketball…. then Hampton Christian High was your destination.
For the fourth time, the boys varsity was the chosen “foil” for a Metro conference opponent’s homecoming, this time at Hampton Christian High. I say we schedule eight homecomings next year because the Cavs finish their homecoming gauntlet with an impressive 3-1 record.
I arrived with a flock of high schoolers as the first quarter was nearing the end and things looked bleak. The faithful band of 60 or so SBS fans were huddled in one corner of the bleachers, ominously quiet as the scoreboard revealed our Cavs were already down 15 points. But things started to turn. I give these boys and their coaches a lot of credit. Basically, any hopes of making the state tournament would be dashed with a loss to Hampton — ranked 12th (the last playoff spot) in the state. The boys kept fighting. Jimmy Tabb started driving to the basket. Brian got his shoulder brace. And we chipped away, cutting the lead down to two at halftime.
(BTW, I liked their “homecoming” halftime festivities. They had any alumni in attendance come out on the court and get an ovation. The the cheerleaders did a very good dance routine with the lights dimmed and spotlights on.)
Back to the game….
Not sure what happened in the third quarter, but I can tell you our band of fans — packed tightly into the far corner of the bleachers — really raised a raucous. I’d say we were outnumbered 6-to-1 but made at least as much, if not more, noise. Maybe it was because we had more highlights in the second half. There was Joel Arcieri stepping up big with some key buckets. Brian Palmer’s trademark slash to the hoop for another two. Wesley Carroll — the quickest guy on the court — playing with four fouls yet managing key buckets and clogging up the middle on defense.
We built a lead and ended up winning by a half dozen. The “Homecoming” Cavs had done it again — the onloy blemish on the homecoming record being a loss at Atlantic Shores, but I’m not sure any team public or private in Hampton Roads could beat Shores.
Breaking Down The Big City
But the real winners were both schools and their fans. In an almost magical way, these basketball games reduce our large network of cities with 1.5 million-plus residents to a small town. It was as if the entire “village” of Hampton Christian had come out to celebrate in their unique way and they invited neighboring rival StoneBridge Village to play. Our region is large enough that it is rare to see someone you meet when you are out and about, shopping at Wal Mart or visiting the mall. But here, I was among family. There’s Mark Keating with is “StoneBridge Swimming” jacket. Jim Arcieri to my left, cheering his son and the team on. The cheerleaders just over my right shoulder. There’s Trey losing his voice to lead the “Stone… what?” cheer. Phil Herring… John Cash… The girls basketball team…. Kellie Unsworth… and my co-color commentator for this game, Greg Akins.
We sat admidst Hampton Christian villagers and had good, friendly discussions about the homecoming… if their star player has received a basketball scholarship…. etc. Truth be told, it’s a village that is still in shock from losing one of its students this year to suicide. I’m sure Hampton Christian Village will still be recovering for some time to come. Hopefully, this Homecoming, surrounded by friends and family and with their good neighbors from StoneBridge Village taking part, helped in that process.
Cavaliers Post Rare Sweep Of Fourpleheader February 21, 2009
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Dateline: Feburary 19, 2009
How much fun can one school’s basketball program have in one day? The StoneBridge Cavaliers basketball program, with players ranging from the sixth to twelfth grads, swept four games on three courts today in a rare “fourpleheader.”
The action got started with the JJV boys Metro tournament first round game in which the #1 ranked Cavs defeated Portsmouth Christian behind the solid play of Luke Unsworth and Joseph Gutworth. After a tight first half, the Cavs pulled away in the second half to advance to the second round.
Next up: the Lady Cavs JV team, which has been steadily gaining strength and building momentum. In this their last regular season game, the Cavs needed a win to secure the third seed in the conference tournament. Coach Crowe’s girls took a lead into halftime and then held off Hampton Christian’s strong charge in the second half. The hard work and commitment of these girls is paying off.
Game three: After Senior Sarah Tabb received her 1,000-point ball from Athletic Director Woolard, the Lady Cavs breezed to their 66th consecutive Metro Conference win. The Lady Cavs will have the opportunity next week to extend this remarkable streak to 69 games in the Metro tournament.
The nightcap involved a trip to Isle of Wight for a rare evening game or the JJV girls team, who entered their tournament as the 4th ranked team and were seeking to avenge an earlier loss to Williamsburg Christian. It turned out to be a defensive struggle and the low-scoring affair came down to a final defensive stop by the young Lady Cavs who advanced to the semi-finals.
Whew! Over 40 kids on three courts spread out across about 40 miles.
Lady cavs compete tough in holiday tourney December 27, 2008
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The Lady Cavs split the first two games of the Greyhounds tournament at IC Norcom, winning the first game before falling to Booker T Washington (and the refs) in Saturday’s semi-finals.
The Pilot’s coverage of Friday’s game featured a large photo of our very own Caitlyn Unsworth pulling up for two of her 17 points (photo of print edition below). After leading early, the Cavs fell behind by 12 at the beginning of the fourth quarter before closing the gap to three with tightening defense. The Cavs then induced another turnover and were ready to take the ball in with a chance to tie until the refs conferred and refersed the call. Booker T went on a run to stretch the gap back to more than a dozen.
Still, the Cavs should come away from the game with confidence. We didn’t play our best game, got into early fould trouble, had to endure some questionable refereeing in an unfriendly environment against a top 10 public school…. and were only down by three in the fourth quarter. This bodes well for the rest of the season.(Season record: 9-2)
Link to Pilot’s story on Friday’s game.
Friday’s Box:
StoneBridge 52, Norview 32
STONEBRIDGE: Unsworth 17, Rowe 8, Foster 10, Tabb 18, Wash 9. Totals: 21 6-9 52.
NORVIEW: Edwards 18, Acuna’ 2, Cuffee 1, Matthews 2, Harris 6, Payton 1, Lucas 2. Totals: 13 4-8.
Halftime: StoneBridge 35-13. 3-point goals: Edwards 2, Linsworth 2, Rowe 2
Print edition caption: Caitlynn Unsworth of StoneBridge, right, shoots over Lashay Lucas of Norview during a Lady Greyhound Classic tournament Friday. ( Steve Earley / The Virginian-Pilot )
StoneBridge Weathers Tough 4-Game Span As Program Makes Crucial Transition October 3, 2008
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Sooooooooo close! That’s a quick two-word assessment of the past tough four-game span against the undefeated conference leader, two Division II schools and a strong conference opponent. Although StoneBridge did not get a victory in the span, the team does not come away defeated. In fact, I believe we’re accomplishing what we set out to do at the beginning of the year.
When the VaPilot requested a pre-season write-up, I summarized where I thought the volleyball program was headed by saying we are a “program that is in transition from league doormat to competitor and hopefully to the top tier.” Thirteen games into the season, we’ve completed the first part of that transition which began last year — from league doormat to competitor. Lest we forget, prior to this season we had three conference wins in the program’s history. Just a few years ago, we had sixth and seventh graders forced to play varsity. Last year, the program took huge strides forward and began the path to building a competitive program. This year, we’ve completed that transition. Evidence:
–Program high in wins for a season
–Program high in conference wins
–First ever statewide ranking in Division III
–We have been competitive with every team and could have or nearly did beat every team we’ve played
–Our JV team is strong and competitive and actually quite impressive (and setting records for wins!)
–We added a JJV team to accommodate the high level of interest in volleyball and give young players more court time
Following the first game of the four-game stretch against undefeated and highly ranked Broadwater, I was told by some folks at Broadwater that we were “the best team they’ve played.” In the second game against Division II Greenbrier, we led 2-1 only to fall in five games in a very hard fought match. This week at Alliance Christian, we fought back from 0-2 and had the lead 12-8 in the fifth game before falling. And last night, we actually outscored Norfolk Christian but lost three heartbreakers: 24-26, 29-31 and 23-25.
Total points in the four games: 328-397. Last three games: 300-303.
Total points for the season thus far: 1,000-1,000
So, congrats to all the girls involved in StoneBridge volleyball! We’ve officially made it from league doormat to competitor. I’m excited as I look forward to the coming games and the conference tournament and the opportunity to establish ourselves in the conference top tier. That’s the challenge before us.
SBS Volleyball Ranked #10 in Division 3! September 23, 2008
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Losses to Denbigh and Hampton Show SBS What It Will Take September 21, 2008
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Two defeats bracketing StoneBridge’s annual school retreat come early enough in the season to serve as an excellent teaching moment for a young team in transition to the conference’s top tier. “These defeats were difficult but they can serve as a blessing in disguise if we will glean the lessons we need to improve,” said coach Elliott. “Namely, in order to beat the better teams, we must start strong and compete on every point. And we’re still learning how to pick each other up after physical and mental errors.”
Game Summary: Denbigh
For a team transitioning to the upper tier of the conference, every game can provide new lessons. This game’s lesson — we cannot count on winning the match if we do not compete in the first game. The total score of the final three games was 76-76, showing that these two teams were very evenly matched. Denbigh prevailed on the strength of two-point overtime victories in games two and four. “I didn’t know volleyball could be so much fun,” said one StoneBridge parent as the two teams traded tough points in the deciding game. Credit to Denbigh — a well coached, disciplined team that competes on every point — for prevailing. But we look forward to the rematch! Ashlea Foster: 15 kills; Rachel Rowe 11 kills.
Game Summary: Hampton Christian
Hampton Christian solidified its hold on second place in the conference with a convincing victory over a young StoneBridge team that is learning what it will take to compete with the top tier teams. SBS literally lost the match on the first two service turns for Hampton in games one and two as we spotted our opponents with 10+ points which is too large of a deficit to overcome. Overall, we had 26 failed service receptions and just a 60% success rate — far below our 83% season average coming in to the game. Despite convincing losses in the first two games, SBS can take away from this match confidence that we can compete — and beat — teams like Hampton. We led the game late and had the serve at 22-22.
Dinning Helps “Serve” Up SBS Volleyball’s Fifth Win September 14, 2008
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Gamedate: 9/12/08. Even though the SBS girls varsity volleyball team clearly had the upper hand on Oaktree, the score half way through the second game didn’t indicate such. The two teams played a close game one and now Oaktree held a 15-10 advantage when Emily Dinning took the ball for her serve.
Twelve points and five aces later, SBS was back in control and on its way to a 3-0 victory. “Emily’s 12 serves changed the entire game,” said coach Elliott. “It’s something we talked about since our first practice — we need to be able to get ten serves in in a row to turn games around. And Emily did just that.” Add in Ashlea Foster’s 14 kills, Rachel Rowe’s 10 kills and seven aces, and Megan Gilbert’s eight assists and SBS was able to finish off the week 4-0 and improve its record to 5-1 (3-1 in the conference). Next up: 2007 conference runner-up Denbigh Baptist.
Once again, the JV led the way for the varsity with a victory over Oaktree. With a sweep of four games this week, the JV improved to 4-2, making this the most victorious JV volleyball team in SBS history. Congrats!
Coach Rose on TV 13 on Tuesday September 14, 2008
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Found this in the comments:
Just wanted to tell everyone that Coach Mrs. Michael Rose(Cavaliers T & F) will be on TV -13 WVEC Community spot on the Noon day news on Tuesday, 9/16/08
Rowe And Foster 1-2 Punch Powers Lady Cavs Over Chargers September 12, 2008
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Rachel Rowe and Ashley Foster provided a powerful 1-2 punch as StoneBridge Varsity Volleyball defeated the Isle of Wight Chargers 3-1 Thursday at StoneBridge. Rowe (20 kills, 8 aces, 12 service receptions and 8 digs) and Foster (14 kills, 7 aces, 23 service receptions and 8 digs) kept the pressure on the Chargers with a steady diet of front-row and back-row attacks. “Ashley and Rachel seemed determined to take the game to Isle of Wight,” said coach Steve Elliott. “Especially after we lost the first game, these girls turned up the heat in a big way.”
Key Moment In Match
After winning games two and three, StoneBridge seemed to take control of game four and led 23-18. That’s when the Chargers came storming back to tie at 23. Following a time out, StoneBridge gained a side out and Rowe served the game out with an ace for the win. “That was the key moment in the match,” said Elliott. “We gained back the momentum and then Rachel ended the game quite suddenly.” Elliott knows the rematch will be a test. “We’ll face a very tough match when we travel to their court,” said Elliott, whose team continues to make progress and set new standards for the volleyball program.
As usual, it took a real team effort to put down a Chargers squad that entered the game second in the conference. Kristin Hines (17 of 17), Katie Connor (seven of eight) and libero Geli Ziegler (10 of 10) served up many key points while setters Megan Gilbert and Laura Rader provied 12 and 11 assists respectively. SBS now stands at 4-1 overall and 3-1 in the conference.
JV Victory!
SBS’s JV squad also won in come-from-behind fashion, losing the first game but then taking control of the match in games two and three. The JV also completed a first in SBS volleyball history with a 100% serving percentage for the entire match.
SBS Volleyball Teams Beat Porsmouth Christian September 10, 2008
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Following a historic victory by the SBS JV volleyballers, the varsity team made its own history as both teams defeated Portsmouth Christian for the first time. “Certainly our best game to date and a true cohesive, team effort that put us over the top in some very close, hard-fought games,” says coach Steve Elliott as SBS won 25-22, 26-28, 25-22 and 25-15 on the Patriots’ home floor.
Ashley Foster’s 15 kills and 17 service receptions led the way. Clutch serving from Kristin Hines (20 of 20), Laura Rader (22 serves in) and Megan Gilbert (13 serves in) kept SBS on the attack. Gilbert led seven players recording assists with 11. Co-captain Rachel Rowe had a fine overall game with 9 kills, 3 aces, 14 service receptions and seven digs. “Every player had a hand in this victory,” says Elliott.
Elliott was equally proud of the JV squad, which came from behind to win a close first game and then won game two for its second consecutive match victory and first ever over PCS. “In a very real way the JV inspired the Varsity tonite.”
Looking ahead, Elliott recognizes that SBS is a program in transition. “We are learning how to win,” says Elliott. “The fact is, noone is going to give us anything; we need to take hold of games and then go after the win. We did that especially well in games 3 and 4. It’s early and we have a lot of learning ahead of us.”
More on this history: prior to this season SBS varsity volleyball had won just one conference game. Now, the team stands at 2-1 in the conference and 3-1 overall. But the schedule does not let up with two more games this week.
SBS Volleyball Gets First Home Win September 8, 2008
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9/8/08 at SBS. Against an upstart program, SBS girls bounced back and played a much improved game in sweeping Faith Baptist by a score of 3-0. Ashlea Foster’s 17 kills led the way and Laura Rader’s 12 assists kept StoneBridge in control throughout the match. SBS’s return and service percentages were much higher and overall team cohesion improved as the team heads into a very busy stretch of games. Rachel Rowe added seven aces on 19 serves to go with nine kills and now leads the team with 30 aces in three games.
A Libero!
In a major development, SBS employed for the first time a libero as Geli Ziegler wore the white jersey and manned the back row. Geli was 5 for 5 in service receptions in the new role as SBS improved to 2-1 overall.
First Defeat Comes At Hands Of Alliance September 8, 2008
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9/5/08 at SBS. Rough game all around. We had trouble serving, returning, setting, etc. It’s definitely one of those games you brush off quickly and move on especially since the games will come very rapidly over the next few weeks. Credit to Alliance Christian for playing consistent volleyball. They were definitely the more comfortable team. But we left the court knowing we can compete with Alliance and beat them if we play our game. Onward! (Geli Zieger 8 of 9 service receptions, 4 of 4 serves;
