by Stephen M. Lewis
DigitalSports Richmond
slewis@digitalsports.com
(804) 240-2191

Deep Run-Mills Godwin went from an apparent cake walk to another classic.

The rivals fought to five games before Deep Run prevailed 16-14 in the fifth Thursday night to get a leg up in the Colonial District girls volleyball race.

The Wildcats, ranked second in the latest DigitalSports Top 10, won the first two sets pretty easily, 25-21 after holding a big lead, and 25-15 in the second.

Chaney LaReau was a mad woman on the floor, on her way to 23 kills and 18 digs as Deep Run dominated the early portion.

"The first two games were good, we were getting a lot of balls up," said LaReau, who just recently switched back to outside hitter and looks healthy after her knee injury. "With Godwin, skill isn't even anything because it's all about heart. It's so competitive. They impressed me in the next two games."

That's when No. 3 Godwin coach Jason Garrett took his girls outside of the gym and gave them a tongue lashing before game three.

"He pretty much just told us to get our act together and to play like a team that he knows we can be," senior captain and setter Meghan Meleski (45 assists, 16 digs, three aces) said. "Because what we showed in the first two games was definitely not the team we can be. We came out and I think we definitely picked up."

Godwin jumped out to a few five-point advantages before Deep Run closed the gap on every one of them.

But the Eagles won 25-23 as Maggie Murphy (15 digs), playing her third position in four years, put in a bunch of her 26 kills finding the middle of the floor with perfectly placed rolls.

The fourth was tight as well, but Godwin led most of the game.

Its defense, clean play and contributions from Jill Sedlar and Megan Heyer at the net helped the Eagles end on a 7-2 run, shocking the Wildcats, though a five-game match is almost guaranteed in this series.

The Wildcats jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the fifth, including a 5-0 run on serves by Mallory Woolridge (19 digs, 15 kills, four blocks). Undaunted, Godwin rallied for a 8-8 tie to force a Deep Run coach Terra Balla timeout.

It went to 12 apiece on Meleski's beautiful, sneaky poach that caught Deep Run off guard. She came up huge again as Deep Run was looking to close the match at 14-13, when her ace knotted things at 14.

But Deep Run got an error point and went to Megan LaMantia, who found the middle of the floor to end the epic.

It was a welcome sight to a Deep Run team that has seven losses all to out-of-area, state contenders, four of which were lost in five games.

"We can't get too cocky when we win the first two," Deep Run's ever-improving Suzy Rosser (13 kills, six digs, five blocks, four aces) said.

Added LaReau, "It's not over until the last point."

Mills Godwin 21 15 25 25 14
Deep Run    25 25 23 20 16
Records: Mills Godwin (4-1 Colonial, 12-5); Deep Run (4-0, 8-7)