HHS Weekly Sports Recap: October 17-21

Hornets’ volleyball team bounces back

Herndon (5-8) lost its volleyball match in three sets (19-25, 21-25, 20-25) on Tuesday to Oakton but bounced back aggressively to sweep the Rebels on Thursday night (25-22, 25-22, 25-22), dropping Fairfax below the .500-mark, to 8-10 on the season. The Hornets may reach .500, but it will have to be in the playoffs as just two regular-season games remain. Fortunately the Concorde District remains fair play, as no dominant squad exists. 

“We’re getting better each game. We’re going to hope to win districts,” said Coach Rebecca Waters. “I figured out our average points per game is like 21, so we’re not getting blown out by anybody. I think any team we’ve played, if we play them again it could end differently in [a win.]”

Waters said Catherine Nickle has turned her game around for the better this month. Nickle proved that last week with a combined 12 kills and 20 digs versus the Cougars and Rebels, respectively while Kayleen Harrington lead the Hornets in kills (9, 12.) And Courtney Guengerich has become the set master for Herndon this fall, passing the rock selflessly for a total of 61 assists on the week.

The Hornets are counting on Ella Rutanen to continue her defensive dominance when they meet a strong .500 Robinson squad, as she attacked the net for six big blocks in the Rebels’ match.

Herndon plays at Robinson (10-10) at 7:15 p.m. on Oct. 25.

Varsity football team suffers Homecoming loss

The Hornets rattled off an impressive 35-points in the second half, but it would not prove enough as the Rams had already put Herndon in a huge hole during the first two quarters of play to eventually spoil the Hornets’ Homecoming, 56-38.

Herndon fought its way back from a 28-3 deficit at the start of the third quarter. Josh Schow took the reigns and plowed his way through the Rams defense for 174 yards and four touchdowns (39, 29, 32, 3) on the ground, averaging an almost unheard of 11.5 yards per carry. Ky Parrott had 144 all-purpose yards at quarterback and Darrius Hicks continued his impressive role in relief of Schow, with 39 yards at almost five yards a clip. Hicks also caught two balls for 29 yards, including a five-yard strike from back-up quarterback Zach Goldsby in the fourth quarter.

Chantilly comes to Herndon next week and whatever happens, the fans will cheer for their beloved Hornets and show pride in this town and its schools. Herndon High’s Director of Student Activities Jonathan Frohm had this to say about the game.

“We give credit to Robinson. The final score had them on top. Our kids fought back and put points in the board, and we are proud of their commitment to the game,” said Frohm. “We won’t ever lay down - Herndon’s kids are tough and we expect that. Today’s game mattered to us all and we are not content with the outcome. We move on to play Chantilly and Westfield. We will not hide from any opponent. That is our message.”

Herndon plays at home against Chantilly (5-3) at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 28.

Herndon field hockey team’s season over

The Herndon High varsity field hockey team (7-10) finished the month of September strong at 7-4 with four shutouts and seemed headed toward the top of the Concorde. Unfortunately, Herndon would not fair as well in October as the team hit a rough streak, dropping five straight matches including a 2-0 loss to Chantilly (10-8) last Wednesday night in the first round of the Concorde District tournament to end its 2011 season.

Senior forward Kelly Pease completed her high school field hockey career in superb fashion, scoring a team-high 15-goals with five assists on the year. Freshmen Taylor Stone and Sofia Palacios began their careers on fire as they each scored seven to tie for second on the squad, while goalkeeper Erin East played stellar in net with 61 saves on the season to finish her senior year successfully.

Offensively, the Hornets played aggressively taking 154 shots in 2011. But they had trouble finding the back of the net toward the end of their schedule, scoring just three times in their final five matches. Herndon had a 139-84 penalty-corner advantage over its opponents and outscored them 34-30. The Hornets will lose eight seniors to graduation but will retain four freshmen, two sophomores and five juniors from the roster including Megan Janowski, who Coach Phyllis Pearce feels found her A-game midway through the season.

Note: Westfield defeated Chantilly, 2-1 and Oakton, 7-1 to win the Concorde District and will play West Potomac in the first round of the Northern Regional Tournament at home at 7 p.m. on Oct. 25.