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Kettle Run volleyball players return to beat Liberty
Liberty High School had the atmosphere of a family reunion Monday when the Kettle Run and Liberty volleyball teams met for the first time since a school redistricting redistributed Fauquier County’s athletes.
There were the hand slaps, the hugs; the smiles, the tears; the pleasantries, the arguments; even the nachos and, of course, the volleyball match. The Kettle Run Cougars swept the match 25-17, 25-18, 25-20, which created many of those mentioned mixed emotions.
It felt unnatural for Kettle Run coach Krystal Hermes to lead the Cougars into Liberty’s gym, having coached the Eagles as a varsity assistant and freshman head coach last season. Similarly, it felt odd for players like Sam Harrover, who were moved to Kettle Run after playing for Liberty in 2007.
Meanwhile, Heather McInnis stood on the opposite side, looking through the net at a bunch of Kettle Run players who had been her teammates one year ago – Harrover, Sarah Griffin, Tori Glaze, Jen Philips, Kelci Riley and Emily Delsignore, for example. That made the loss harder to take than most, and none are easy for McInnis, one of the few returning starters left on Liberty’s roster.
“It’s just a tough one, especially when I play against all my friends,” McInnis said. “I just want it so bad.”
Hermes wouldn’t go as far as saying the victory over her former school was more gratifying than any other, but it was plenty satisfying.
“Any win feels good,” she said. “It was really weird. I think I coached all the girls that are on the varsity team, so it was different playing against them.”
The reunion theme actually benefited Liberty early, as the Cougars committed four attack errors that helped the Eagles take a 9-3 lead in game one.
“I have a lot of friends on my old team, so I had my nerves with me for quite a while,” Harrover said.
Those jitters seemed to disappear, though, once Kettle Run scored with its first kill on a big swing by middle hitter Brooke Redmon, making the score 9-4. The Cougars went on to take the lead for good at 16-15 on a Liz Bisutti kill.
“We were so pumped getting ready. It’s just we lose our excited-ness,” said McInnis, Liberty’s senior leader. “I don’t know how to keep it going. I’m trying. I’m screaming. I don’t know what else to do.”
Making the night more frustrating, the Eagles actually played some of their best volleyball this season but still lost in three games.
“We played a lot better tonight. We just need to fix minor things,” McInnis said. “We can do so much better. I know we have the potential…I know they [the Eagles] want to win...”
See the Friday print edition of the Fauquier Weekend for the complete story.
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