Thomas Dale takes 5 to win

The first time the Thomas Dale and Deep Run boys volleyball teams played this season, Thomas Dale dispatched the visiting Wildcats three sets to none in little more than hour.

Add an hour and two more games to their second meeting last night in the Central Region tournament championship game at Patrick Henry. Though the outcome was the same - Thomas Dale won 25-16, 20-25, 25-23, 16-25, 19-17 and successfully defended as region champ - the match was anything but humdrum.

"That's the way volleyball is supposed to be played by both teams. That was back and forth volleyball with a lot of momentum changes," Deep Run coach Kevin Pond said. "I think both teams made great adjustments. It was a good match all around. I enjoyed that."

Already having a place in next week's Group AAA tournament at the Siegel Center makes it easier to enjoy and play a match like last night's. Thomas Dale (25-0) is the defending state champion. Last night's victory extended their two-year winning streak to 51. It was only the second time in that span that the Knights have gone five games in a match.

Deep Run (23-2) will make its second appearance in the state tournament. The Wildcats were the region runners-up in 2004 when current standout Patrick Maloney's brother, Luke, starred. The Knights play the Eastern Region runner-up, and the Wildcats meet the Eastern champs Thursday.

Thomas Dale seized control of the first game at the midpoint and won with a back row kill from Bradley Johnston. The Knights led by three points midway the second game when the momentum shifted to the Wildcats. Six serving errors by Thomas Dale helped Deep Run's cause.

"You get into a team's head a little bit, and they start changing the way they play," Pond said. "That's what we needed them to do, and they did."

The ebb and flow for both teams included brutally smashed kills, energy-inducing blocks, smart passing and enough unforced errors to keep the tension level high.

Thomas Dale squeaked by in the third game, then looked like it had never played volleyball in the fourth.

"The fourth game we really went blank. We struggled with our passing," coach Mike Walker said.

The Wildcats sent the match to a fifth game behind the play of Patrick Maloney, Lucas Saunders, Phil Slocum and the three trees in the middle, Ross Madden, Sam Denny and John Grove.

The fifth game was a microcosm of the match.

"The fifth game was a dogfight. I told them [teammates] that if we had lost, I'd have cried all the way home," said Zach Seymour, who missed kills on two match points. "Good teams find a way to win."

With the score tied at 17, Dale found that way. A Seymour kill put Dale up 18-17. The match concluded with Matt Knickerbocker and Mason Vivas blocking the ball softly over the net.

"It's funny how the game works," Walker said. "There were so many big hits on both sides. Everybody's going hard, and it's a little changeup play that wins it for you. I don't care how they are. I just like that we won."

Maloney led the Wildcats with 14 kills and seven digs. Saunders logged 14 kills, and Slocum handed out 39 assists.

"That was the first match we've gone five this year," Maloney said. "It was a blast. Nineteen-seventeen in the fifth game. I don't think you can ask for much more as a fan or as a player."

Johnston, the region player of the year, contributed 29 kills and 22 assists to the Knights' effort. Seymour had 22 kills and 27 assists. Alex Hoffman added seven kills.

"I'm emotionally and physically dead," Johnston said. "I have no doubt we'll see them again in the state final."