The Eagles had a great year fall short of the state title, winning both Colonial District titles and finishing second to Deep Run in the Central Region.
by Stephen M. Lewis
DigitalSports Richmond
There's no shame in losing to
Tim Duncan in the NBA Finals. No shame in getting beat by
Tom Brady in the Super Bowl. No shame in being struck out by
Curt Schilling for the World Series title.
Though
Lisa Scott is only a high-school student-athlete, her performance was comparable Thursday night, as the 6-3 senior led Langley to a 3-2 victory over Mills Godwin to advance to the state Group AAA final Saturday at 7 p.m. at VCU's Siegel Center.
The Saxons (24-1) will face Central Region champion Deep Run, who topped previously unbeaten Frank Cox of Virginia Beach in five games. And you better believe Deep Run coach
Terra Balla was watching Scott's performance very closely.
Scott registered 17 kills and 11 blocks. If Langley coach
Sue Shifflett told the throng of reporters that her sensational outside hitter totaled 30 kills and 20 blocks, no one would have doubted it.
Scott, who is headed to Maryland to play volleyball with former Deep Run star
Brittney Grove, was that impressive, that dominant.
"Mills Godwin really couldn't stop her," a reporter stated to Shifflett.
"No, they didn't," Shifflett responded. "Lisa's so powerful. I think Lisa is going to turn Maryland's program around."
Even Godwin coach
Jason Garrett was impressed.
"We've seen players over at Deep Run that jump just as well," Garrett said of
Meghann Forshey and
Mallory Woolridge, both of whom will try to slow down Scott Saturday. "Lisa just dominated us. We knew the ball was going out there and we just couldn't slow her down."
With all of what Scott did defensively and offensively - many off feeds from terrific setter
Megan Shiflett (37 assists) - Godwin (21-7) still led 2-1 and was down 17-16 in the fourth game.
Godwin's defense, led by VCU-bound libero
Alyssa Foster (15 digs), was good enough to give their offense enough opportunities to put Langley back on its heels.
But the Saxons promptly went on a 5-0 run, ended on Scott's block for a 22-16 fourth-game advantage that Langley claimed 25-18.
"We play on emotion," Sue Shifflett said. "We play well when we're pumped up."
Langley then sliced up the first game into three segments, first one to five, eight and 15.
"Eighty percent of the teams that get to eight first [in the final game] win," Sue Shifflett said.
Langley got to eight and nine first, forcing a Godwin timeout at 9-5.
The Eagles continued to fight behind
Katelyn Meeks (12 kills),
Jennifer Mallard (12 kills) and
Eleanor Anne Lafoon (five blocks, seven kills), but could not overcome Scott and Penn State-bound Megan Shiflett, who stuck daggers in the middle of Godwin's defense with seven dumps for kills, ending a stellar season for Godwin.
"She definitely took us by surprise. We really didn't see that at the [Volleyball] Showcase," Foster said of Scott. "We were caught off guard by it.
"No one expected us really to get this far. We really put our hearts into it. We stepped up our game a lot. We're a completely different team than we were the first day of practice. I'm still proud of our team."
Mills Godwin 24 25 25 18 9
Langley 26 22 23 25 15
Records: Mills Godwin (21-7); Langley (24-1)