Volleyball goes 4-1 in weekend tourney action

Ireton's Stephanie Cabrera (center) was named to the all tournament team with 12 aces, 12 digs, and 39 kills in the 5 match event.

A busy but fruitful Saturday for the Bishop Ireton volleyball team as they charged through four opponents enroute to a second place finish in the 2014 Tip Off Tournament at Fredericksburg Christian School Saturday. The tourney selected senior Stephanie Cabrera, with 12 service aces and 39 kills, and junior Lauren Conyngham to the all-tourney team from among a field of eight schools.

Bishop Ireton blitzed Model School in the opening round, 25-3, 25-18 in the best of three format. Cabrera had 5 service aces and 4 kills in the contest freshman Francesca Littleton contributed 4 kills and sophomore Connor Wood chipped in 3. Erika Cabot was credited with 3 blocks while Angela Kammen had a pair of digs for the Cardinals.

The Alexandria Catholic school then defeated Eastern Mennonite 2-0 with a 25-22 win in the first set and 25-19 win in set two. Cabrera had a team-high 12 kills while Wood added 5 and Jordenne Gerard earned a pair of blocks for Ireton.

In the third matchup, the Cardinals rolled by Seton School of Manassas with the help of 5 aces from Cabrera and senior Catie Hoffman, three and two respectively, and a team-high 4 kills from Kammen to win 25-10 and 25-13. On to the semifinals and Peninsula Catholic.

The Newport News school featured an impressive front line, but the Cardinals played one of their best matches of the young season in denying the Knights the opportunity to exploit their size advantage at the net in another 2-0 sweep to move to the finals. Once again, Stephanie Cabrera led Ireton with 11 kills and a pair of digs, Kammen pitched in 3 kills and a pair of service aces.

For the third time in as many years, the Cardinals faced host Fredericksburg Christian in the finals. Ireton prevailed in 2012, the Eagles claimed the title in 2013. Once again the 2014 championship would be a nailbiter and come down to the wire.

Ireton claimed the first set, 25-16 before the FCS outside hitters began to make their presence known. That outside hitting gave the hosts the second set by a 25-19 count, and they outlasted the Cardinals in the deciding third set by the narrowest of margins, 15-13, to win the event.

Coach Kathy Gutmann sees the busy Saturday as a positive step as the Cardinals return to WCAC play at Elizabeth Seton on Tuesday. “We played a lot of volleyball and we consistently played well. It was a very good day for us, I like where we are and I know we are ready to go to Elizabeth Seton.”

JV matches begin at 4:30 and the varsity is slated for a 6pm start in Bladensburg.