varsity.roanoke.com

Ash Daniel | Special to The Roanoke Times

Sarah Church knocks the ball over the net during Hidden Valley's Group AA title game.

Hidden Valley's Sarah Church (10) and Eva Delaney try to block a Loudoun County kill attempt as Tori Hodges looks on.

RICHMOND -- Eight points.

That's the lead Hidden Valley had over Loudoun County in the third game of the Group AA championship.

The Titans were up 24-16, down two games to none, and needed one more point to get to Game 4 and mount a comeback bid.

It was one point that they couldn't score as the Raiders rallied, then capped off a 31-29, 25-21, 29-27 win over Hidden Valley on Saturday at the Siegel Center.

"I think sometimes that comes down to experience," said Titans coach Carla Poff. "They've been there. They know what it feels like. When you win a state championship, you know not to let those little things happen.

"I think experience kind of played a little bit of a role in some of those situations, but we just kept fighting the whole time through and gave them a good run for their money."

And Loudoun County knew it was going to get that from the Titans (24-5).

"They're good. There's a reason they were still playing today," said Raiders assistant coach Jarod Brown, who had to take over when head coach Jenica Matthias became too ill to remain on the court.

"She was able to come out and see the end," Brown said.

And see the grit displayed by her players.

"We were very determined," said Juliane Hanna. "We were gonna do anything we could to pull it out."

Hanna did her part, finishing with 16 kills along with Shaylin O'Connell, who also tallied 16 kills for the Raiders (28-1).

Sam Klostermann led Hidden Valley with nine kills, while Eva Delaney, Sarah Church and Tori Hodges each added seven.

Asked if Loudoun County was the best team the Titans had faced all year, Jessica Church quickly dismissed it.

"It was just the day that we played," she said. "It was just the game. They just have a little more experience."

But the loss couldn't diminish what Hidden Valley accomplished this season.

"I'm proud of the way that we came together as a team late in the season," said Church. "We had a dominant first half of the year and were undefeated. ... When postseason came around, we sort of got rejuvenated and came back together and realized that we still had a shot at making the state championship game and that's what we did."

And for seniors like Church, it was the realization of a goal.

"I've been on varsity since I was a freshman, and I've been working four years to play in the Siegel Center and I'm just so happy that we finally made it."