Osbourn Park sweeps in volleyball

By Dave Utnik

Published: October 15, 2008

Beads of sweat sprung out on Nikki McMillan's face like tiny puddles. And, after playing two matches at two different locations within a five-hour span, Osbourn Park's sophomore setter was ready to exchange a soaking wet jersey for a soft cotton t-shirt.

"It is really hot, actually," McMillan said, though she didn't really seem to mind.

The Yellow Jackets were having too much fun to notice how warm it was or how tired they were.

They'd just completed their most meaningful and successful evening of the season on Wednesday, not to mention the most unusual, with a 21-25, 25-18, 25-13, 25-21 home victory over Cardinal District co-leader Woodbridge followed by a 25-11, 25-19, 25-22 sweep at Battle-field.

"Right after school we set up the nets and got going. We were under some pressure, but it was a lot of fun," McMillan said. "We kind of did what we had to do and got it done."

McMillan probably felt more pressure than anyone else considering she is the team's set-ter. Virtually everything depends on her getting the ball to the right spot at the right time and she had to hustle around the court twice as much as she normally would last night.

But she never really fretted. McMillan ran the offense the way she has all season—making sets across the front row and getting seven different players at least one kill attempts as OP improved to 13-5 with one week remaining in the regular season.

"It's a lot to do in one day but it was important to us to play," senior captain Kelsie Hernandez said. "We're always up for a challenge."

The challenge presented itself unexpectedly on Monday when the Yellow Jackets' match at Battlefield was postponed because of power failure.

And the solution didn't come without some potential risks.

But OP coach Kate Southcott is as imaginative as she is brilliant and felt her team would benefit from the experience of playing twice in one day.

So she moved her scheduled match against Woodbridge up three hours and then agreed to play the Bobcats—with a No. 3 seed in the Cedar Run District Tournament at stake—as soon as her players could drive from Manassas to Haymarket.

"I think this shows that when we put it all together we can really pull through," Her-nandez said. "We have a lot more chemistry now than we did at the beginning of the year. We've definitely come together."

Behind 20 kills and 23 digs from Tori Price, 18 assists from McMillan and 25 digs from Andrea Testerman, Osbourn Park became only the second Prince William County team to defeat Wood-bridge this season.

The Jackets did it by overcoming a loss in the opening game and by the time the rally was com-plete, it was 5:54 p.m.

That left just enough time for a quick stop at Arby's or McDonalds before they had to be back on the court again at Battlefield.

"I think we were all kind of tired from the ride here," McMillan said. "But we recuperated quickly."

The Bobcats (9-8, 7-6) were ready and waiting as the Jackets arrived in small groups of two and three. They were coming off a victory over Liberty on Tuesday and were feeling pretty good be-cause it established a school record for most district wins in a single season.

But OP had its own history to make.

The three-time defending Cedar Run champions are still aiming for a regional tournament berth and that will be a much easier task as a No. 3 seed. So they completed a sweep of the season series against Battlefield and essentially assured themselves of third place with another dominat-ing performance.

Price combined for 11 kills, 13 digs and five blocks in the middle; Testerman had nine kills and 11 digs and the back row held the Bobcats to 20 total digs behind exceptional play from Alyssa San-chez, libero Katie Adler, Rachel Fening and McMillan.

Sophomores Ariquel Payne and Erikka Davis combined for eight kills, while Amanda Davis and Pilar Sahguinetti teamed up for five blocks.

And when they were finished, Hernandez made her way across the court with a satisfied smile on her face.

"OK, let's play a third match," she suggested.

"That would be sweet," Fening said. "Not."

FIELD HOCKEY

• OSBOURN PARK 3, CULPEPER 0: The Yellow Jackets received two goals from Lauren Stewart and one from Gabby Branch as they improved to 6-8, 4-5 in the Cedar Run District.

Natalie Blanchetti recorded an assist on the goal by Branch.

• BATTLEFIELD 2, LIBERTY 0: Rachel Brigham and Carly Glenn scored to give the Bobcats (11-1, 7-1)  a Cedar Run District win.