The Cosby boys volleyball team’s Achilles’ heel this season has been an inability to handle adversity in some big matches. Get down, they’re out. Great Bridge of Chesapeake had the Titans backpedaling last night in the semifinals of the Virginia High School League Group AAA tournament at the Siegel Center. Cosby won the first two games, but the unbeaten Wildcats won the third and fourth sets and served for the match in Game 5.

The “Oh, no, not you again” scenario takes center stage in the state Group AAA girls volleyball tournament quarterfinals tonight at Frank Cox High in Virginia Beach. That’s where Central Region runner-up Deep Run (16-9) will take on the Eastern Region champion Falcons (23-2) at 7 p.m. Central Region champion Mills Godwin (20-5) plays host to Eastern runner-up Princess Anne (21-5) at 7.

The Central Region boys and girls volleyball tournament finals will be played tonight at Cosby High School. Dominion District rivals Cosby and Clover Hill play for the sixth time this season in the boys championship match, which starts at 5:30 p.m. Both teams advance to the state Group AAA tournament semifinals Wednesday at the Siegel Center against Eastern Region representatives Great Bridge and First Colonial.

Cosby and Clover Hill will play each other a sixth time in a boys volleyball match this season. The two Dominion District powers, separated by a couple of miles, will meet for the Central Region tournament championship tonight at 5:30 at Cosby. The winner will earn a home game in the state quarterfinals next week against the Eastern Region runner-up.

CAPITAL DISTRICT
First team—Atlee: Zoe Altholz, Sonja Anderson, Laura Beckler, Jaimee Mackay, Loren Dove. Hanover: Morgan Kaye, Meredith Shelton, Taylor Cully. Henrico: Jackie Simpson, Miranda Germano, Michela Nardi, Alexandra Vulcanoff. Lee-Davis: Ashley Reynolds, Kelsey Reynolds, Linnea Taylor, Jamie Ebert. Varina: Jessica Stitzer. Goalkeeper: Sarah Clare, Lee-Davis.

Dominion District champion Cosby swept three games from Matoaca and advanced to the region semifinals. Although the games were close, the outcome was never in doubt. Stephen Cunningham had 11 kills, Brent Zackon 14 assists and Ben Morrison and Cameron Vaile combined for 17 more kills and four blocks for the Titans. Dylan Vavra contributed 14 assists, and Ryan Chapman had seven kills for the Warriors.

Clover Hill rallied in the third and fourth games to eliminate defending Central Region champion Thomas Dale in four games. Neither team had more than a threeor four-point run during a tight match. Each game was decided by four or two points. The Cavaliers, who lost to the Knights earlier this season, got 38 assists from Andy Hite, 15 kills from Tony Song and 10 kills from Mark Smith.

ALEXANDRIA—St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes scored two goals early in the first half and again in the second half to defeat Benedictine 4-2 and advance to the semifinals of VISAA boys soccer tournament. The Saints meet Collegiate tomorrow at Sports Backers Stadium in Richmond. Cohen Bond, Cal Perfall, John Quarles and Peter Voth scored for SSSA, which took fewer shots but made the most of their opportunities.

Ross Madden capped a near triple-double performance with key blocks at the end of game three and game four of Deep Run’s 3-1 win over Atlee in the Central Region quarterfinals. Madden’s blocks helped the Wildcats rally from a 22-16 deficit to take game 3. Madden finished with 23 kills, 15 digs and nine blocks. Atlee12 25 24 21 Deep Run25 20 26 25

MCLEAN—Matias Rodlauer scored in the 59th minute to put Potomac into the semifinals at St. Christopher’s expense. Brendan Doyle made nine saves for the Saints. David Freemyer preserved the win for Potomac with five saves. St. Christopher’s 0 0—0
Potomac 0 1—1
P: M. Rodlauer Saves: Doyle (SC) 9; Freemyer (P) 5

Michael Howard scored in regulation then converted his spot kick in the penalty shootout to send third-seeded Collegiate past Paul VI in the Virginia Independent Schools quarterfinal. Howard scored in the 69th minute, but Tyler Phillips scored in the final minute of regulation to revive 11th-seeded Paul VI’s hopes of an upset. Thomas Hatcher and Colscon Wiley also converted their attempts in the penalty shootout for the Cougars. David Noftsinger was subbed on for the shootout and saved Paul VI’s second of three misses.

Central Region volleyball answers coming Here are two questions that will be answered at the Central Region boys and girls volleyball tournaments this week. How many more times will the Cosby and Clover Hill boys play each other? Will the James River girls finally make it through to the region final and a berth in the state tournament?

Cosby claimed the Dominion District championship yesterday, defeating Clover Hill. Will Vacca had 12 digs and Stephen Cunningham and Ben Morrison had 12 kills for the Titans. Cosby (18-4) will host Matoaca Monday in the Central Region playoffs; Clover Hill (18-6) travels to Thomas Dale. Clover Hill————————————- 18 25 23 23
Cosby————————————- 25 12 25 25
Highlights: Matt White (CH) 11 kills, 2 blocks; Bret Brooks (CH) 5 digs; Alden Negaard (CH) 3 kills; Will Vacca (C) 12 digs; Cameron Vaile (C) 5 kills, 6 blocks; Stephen Cunningham (C) 12 kills, 2 blocks; Ben Morrison (C) 12 kills
Records: Clover Hill 18-6; Cosby 18-4

Alex Haley made 33 assists and three aces and Deep Run held off Maggie Walker GS 3-1 yesterday to capture the Colonial District championship. Ross Madden totaled 18 kills and four aces for the Wildcats, who will play Atlee in the regionals Monday. Garrett Short added 13 kills, 12 digs and nine blocks. Matt Wilkinson registered 40 assists, two aces and two kills for the Green Dragons, who will face Highland Springs at the regionals. Parker Kirwan had 16 kills, two blocks and an ace and Walter Coethel made 10 kills and 12 digs.

No. 2 Clover Hill slipped past No. 3 James River to advance to the Dominion District finals against No. 1 Cosby. Mark Smith had 21 kills and Tony Fong and Matt White had 14 for Clover Hill. James River’s Darren Kilby had 15 kills and seven digs. James River————————————- 25 27 23 24 10
Clover Hill————————————- 22 25 25 26 15
Highlights: Drew McLean (JR) 11 kills, 3 blocks; Darren Kilby (JR) 15 kills, 7 digs; Taylor Anderson (JR) 12 kills, 3 blocks; Mark Smith (CH) 21 kills, 4 blocks; Tony Fong (CH) 14 kills, 10 digs; Matt White (CH) 14 kills, 8 digs
Records: James River 15-8; Clover Hill 18-5