In four years Langley seniors Lisa Scott and Megan Shifflett had never played a postseason volleyball game beyond the Northern Region quarterfinals.
So the scene was a bit surreal last Saturday night as the Saxons took the court at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Siegel Center in Richmond for the Group AAA state championship game. Not only had Scott, Shifflett and their teammates never been this far. No team from the Northern Region had played in such a game — a historic accomplishment no matter the 3-0 loss to two-time state champion Deep Run.
“I’m not sure that was something that would have occurred to us before [the state final]. We were just so focused on winning,” said Shifflett, whose mother, Susan, is Langley’s head coach. “But to represent our region so well does make us proud.”
Volleyball wasn’t an officially sanctioned sport in the region until 1999. But it had been played in the Virginia Beach and Richmond areas — and even locally in Prince William County — for years. And while the region’s top players compete for prominent club teams and occasionally garner college scholarships they have long played catch-up to the state’s elite.
To get to Richmond, Langley (25-4) first had to outlast the competition in its own backyard. It won the Liberty District title for the first time since 2004. The Saxons then swept all four Northern Region tournament matches and Princess Anne in the state quarterfinals.
“We improved by leaps and bounds,” said Scott, a first-team all-region middle blocker who will play at Maryland next year. “It took us a little while to work out our lineup early in the season. But once that happened everything clicked for us.”
Langley received huge contributions from its younger players, including junior outside hitter Logan Sebastian and sophomore setter Elysse Richardson — both second-team All-Liberty District picks — and freshman middle blocker Audrey Dotson. Senior Elizabeth Chin was also a key player at outside hitter.
“We knew we had a ways to go at the start of the season,” Shifflett said. “But we also always had faith. … Nobody ever buckled under the pressure.”
A Smashing Success
» A Liberty District team has now won the Northern Region volleyball title twice since the tournament began nine years ago. Langley was also crowned the first champion in 1999.
