In a previous article I wrote profiling the Nansemond River varsity girls volleyball team, their coach, Christine Wood, lightly complained about her team’s flair for what they dubbed “the dramatic comeback.”

She explained that though not necessarily intentional, the Lady Warriors have a nerve-wracking habit of falling behind, which then sets them up for a triumphant recovery.

Anyone who thought Wood was exaggerating need only glance at Nansemond River’s score from Thursday night’s victory against Oscar Smith to see what she is talking about: 25-23, 20-25, 25-22, 21-25, 15-12.

The Lady Warriors’ middle hitter Tatyana Thomas had 15 blocks and 11 kills and setter Camryn Holt contributed seven aces after serving 25 times.

 

Lakeland coach Glenwood Ferebee gave high praise to Western Branch’s offensive line after the Bruins’ 50-0 victory over the Cavaliers two Fridays ago.

“Defensive-wise, I don’t think we could’ve stopped those guys,” he said. “They have 270, 285 (pounds) all across the board.”

Additionally, Lakeland’s three injuries caused vacancies on its own offensive line at center and both guard positions. Ferebee was forced to plug in inexperienced players.

“We had three guys that never really played offensive line before,” he said. “So, you could see in the difference of pass protection, we couldn’t run all our stuff, because their knowledge of the offense was limited.”

Sometimes, the offensive line represents the unsung heroes in football, but it seems the Lakeland-Western Branch matchup was one example of how they play a decisive role in shaping games.

 

Whenever I cover Lakeland field hockey, I am struck by the unique challenge that comes with being consistently excellent. If you have ever been inside the Lakeland High School gymnasium, you can see that the field hockey district champion banners have a good start on circling the entire room. And it’s not a small room.

It’s fall, so Lakeland should be on a roll — and they are, currently 11-0, 6-0 in the district, with only a single goal scored against them all season.

To keep them from losing their edge, Tara Worley is counting on girls who were a part of the 2010 state champion team to dip into their memory.

“Six of these girls have been in this position before as far as the same pressure (of) being undefeated,” she said. “So, I asked they look back at those times for the leadership that was brought to them from the older players and was asking (them) to bring that to the kids that are in the situation for the first time — that they remain mentally strong and just focus on the task at hand, game by game.”

Juniors Jamee and Alexis Albright, Summer Parker, Kasey Smith, Kristen Vick, and senior Ashley Heuberger were on the state title-winning team.