Osbourn Park volleyball tops Patrick Henry

ROANOKE -- The trip from Osbourn Park High School to Patrick Henry is four hours by bus. All those hours and all those miles were motivation for the Osbourn Park volleyball team, which decided after dropping the first game in its Northwest Region Tournament quarterfinal match that it came too far to go home losers.

The bus trip home was a happy one for the Yellow Jackets, who won the match in four games, 18-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-15.

When PH (15-8) took the first game by winning nine of the last 11 points after a 16-16 tie, the Yellow Jackets gathered and held a team pep talk. Senior Tori Price said the team talked about refocusing and playing together.

"We all came together and said 'We've come too far and can't just give it up.' We can't come four hours for nothing," Price said.

Her play spoke volumes as she pounded out 15 kills with a powerful right arm. In a new twist for Osbourn Park (20-3), Price fired winners from the back of the court as well.

"I haven't played the back line in so long, but we put in a new rotation," she said.

A 5-foot-10 attacker, Price found herself on the court the entire match. She took over the third game, scoring her team's last seven offensive points on two perfectly placed dinks, then knocked down two kills and three aces to pull away from the Patriots.

In the match's fourth and final game, the experience of Osbourn Park showed over the freshman-laden Patriots, who struggled to keep the serve while the Yellow Jackets scored on mini-runs of three and four points at a time.

"Our serve receive let us down a little tonight," said PH coach Pat Sheedy. "We can't start our offense without a good serve receive."

Osbourn Park scored 10 aces in the match.

Experience and depth were the Yellow Jackets' biggest assets. When Price was on the back line, Andrea Testerman and Aricquel Payne were attacking, finishing with 10 and eight kills respectively. Samantha Schambach recorded seven kills, and she and Payne each blocked five. Libero Alyssa Sanchez was all over the floor with 23 digs.

"We have talent all over the place, not one go-to kid," said OP coach Michele Blue. "Even if you shut down one player, we have others who can step up."

The Patriots and Yellow Jackets faced each other on Sept. 1, so Osbourn Park knew they needed to watch PH outside hitter Liz Brailsford.

"We had to know where she was," Blue said. "She gave the back row fits."

Brailsford threw down 18 kills despite having four or more arms in front of nearly every shot. But when she was in the back row, PH had three freshmen along the front line.

"Our passing helped a lot," Brailsford said. "My sister (setter Caroline Brailsford) helped because she could see where the block was going to be. I know if I get blocked someone can get the ball so I can go up fearless and swing with all I've got."

In addition to the 18 kills, Liz Brailsford had five blocks and 20 digs.

"I'm proud of what this team accomplished," said Sheedy. "I'm real proud of how well these young kids played."