What Comes With Age Is Not Always A Win

The Madison Warhawks had more experienced players on the volleyball
court Tuesday evening, but the youthful power of the Fairfax Rebels came through
in the end, leaving Madison with a tough 3-0 loss.

Seniors Abby Welch, Anne Hakim and Allison Hahn fought their hearts out on the court. Welch hit hard and had double-digit kills in the first two games, while Hakim took precise bump-sets from Hahn and turned them into valuable points with vicious spikes.

Game one was close through the midway mark, when the Rebels offense took control.

The Rebels' Alissa Boswell and Kevyn Richmond drilled topspin serves and down-the-line kills against Madison to take the lead and serve out for a 25-20 win, taking a 1-0 lead in the match.

The Warhawks came out strong in game two with hard digs from libero Clare Bell. She dove several times into shallow court to save possible aces, turning them into points for Madison with her hungry defensive play.

Hakim killed several down the middle of the court set up by teammate Annie Tracz and Boswell played with fire on both sides of the ball, blocking hard and killing them deep.

Still, Fairfax lengthened their lead on a string of aces and strong defensive play
themselves to take the win, 25-16, as well as a 2-0-match lead.

Madison Head Coach Carrie Hall said she knew it would be a tough fight.

"The games were close and I knew we were going to have to play really scrappy
defense," Coach Hall said. "They just got a little more lucky and played well."

The Warhawks did play scrappy defense and came out in the third game determined to win. Marissa Perez set her hard-hitting teammates spot-on and killed several balls on her own cross-court and down the shallow middle with her trademark 'tip' kills.

Madison knotted it at 18-all, but Fairfax went on a seven-point scoring spree and won, 25-18, for the final 3-0 shutout in a tough fight.

Despite the loss, Madison players Hahn and Tracz were proud of their effort.

"It felt really good because we hadn't been playing a complete game," Hahn said. "Even though we lost we had some good things and our blocking went pretty well."

Tracz agreed and held high hopes for districts.

"We played pretty well," Tracz said. "Hopefully we can improve our game in the
tournament and win."

Coach Hall understands how important each game is going into the district tournament but said she is confident in her team's improvement.

"It would have helped to win this one to get a better seed in the tournament," Hall
said. "But overall our play is getting better."

Madison plays next at McLean on Oct. 18 at 7 p.m.