Good Luck at State Volleyball!!!

Raiders get ready for 3A's tough matchups

After No. 11 Williamsburg won its Class 3A regional final, the players wanted to know on the bus who they got to match up with at state.

"I told them, 'Does it matter?'" Williamsburg coach Emily Nordheim said. "Every team we play is going to be phenomenal."

The 3A field is absolutely loaded, led by returning 2A champion Mount Vernon, the No. 11 team nationally according to Prepvolleyball.com.

No. 2 Waverly-Shell Rock (48-1) and No. 3 West Delaware (38-3) only have lost to Mount Vernon.

West Delaware is the team the Raiders drew for a quarterfinal opponent. Their conference foe has beaten them twice, 21-11, 21-14 on Oct. 9, and 25-14, 25-9 on Oct. 14.

"When we played them the first time, our defense was struggling a lot and our serving was at 80 percent," Nordheim said. "We weren't able to run our offense."

After their last loss to West Delaware, the Raiders regrouped. They swept each of their regional games en route to a return trip to the state tournament.

"This is exactly where we want to be," Nordheim said. "We want to consider ourselves as one of the best in the state."

If the Raiders are going to pull off the upset like they did in the first round a year ago, they will have to control the quick-set offense and senior middle Allison Pasker.

"They don't make a lot of mistakes," Nordheim said. "We need to focus on reading their setter and closing out our blocks better."

Williamsburg knows it will take three pretty huge upsets to bring a state title home but is willing to give it a try.

"Last year was so fun at state, having the whole community there watching you," Nordheim said. "We weren't expected to win last year, but the state tournaments bring the best in teams out."