HHS Weekly Sports Recap: October 24-28

Volleyball team heads to playoffs after tough week

Herndon High’s varsity volleyball team (5-10) endured a rough week with losses to both Robinson 3-2 (28-26, 23-25, 21-25, 26-24, 10-15) and Chantilly 3-1. Catherine Nickle led the Hornets with 10 kills and 16 big digs against the Rams on Tuesday but Herndon was edged in a dynamic fifth-set battle, 10-15. Setter Courtney Guengerich once again passed the ball with precision and totaled 31 assists in the match.

Guengerich and Nickle continued their powerful defense on Thursday night with 20 and 18 digs respectively. But Herndon’s offense sputtered as Chantilly took control of the match, winning in just four sets. Ella Rutanen rejected six attempted Charger kills while Maggie Middleton added four blocks of her own. Unfortunately, Herndon would win only one set (13-25, L 18-25, 25-15, 14-25) in the final match of the regular season.

Coach Rebecca Waters took a young team in her first year at Herndon and showed promise for the future as the Hornets lost several extremely close matches in 2011. Herndon now moves on to the wide-open Concorde tournament Monday night where anything can happen given the parity throughout the district. Herndon plays the first round of the Concorde District Tournament at 7 p.m. on Oct. 31. 

Note: Herndon’s next opponent was not known at the time this article was submitted.

Hornet Football falls to Chantilly

An improved defense gave the Herndon Hornets (2-7) a shot in the first half, down 7-0 last Friday, but the offense failed to score in a disheartening 28-0 loss against Chantilly (6-3). Josh Schow turned in his seventh 100-yard performance this season, averaging 4.4 per carry to surpass the 1000-yard mark (1,074) on the year. Schow leads Herndon with 12 touchdowns in 2011, but neither he nor his teammates could cross the goal line against a highly charged Chantilly defense.

The Chargers totaled 449 yards against the Hornets—278 on the ground including two second-half rushing TDs to put the game out of reach. Sonny Romine threw his second touchdown strike of the game to Will Hill, giving Chantilly a 14-0 lead in the third quarter. Herndon continued to grind it out but had trouble balancing its offensive attack. Herndon quarterbacks Ky Parrot and Zach Goldsby combined for just 49 yards passing on three attempts apiece. Yet four Hornet running backs racked up 210 yards rushing in a solid ground and pound attack against the Chargers. Herndon junior Denzel Weaver and senior Tony Potts plowed through Chantilly’s defense for 50 and 46 yards respectively.

Weaver has shown strong potential and consistency all season. He and sophomore Darrius Hicks give hope to the Hornets next year at tailback, as Schow will graduate in June. Hicks leads the team in receiving yards (298) and has totaled 426 yards on the ground, scoring a combined seven touchdowns this season.

Herndon plays at Westfield (9-0) at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 4.

Herndon Cheer Squad goes to regional semis

The Herndon Hornet Concorde Champion Cheer Team won its division and placed second in the Northern Regional semifinal last Saturday, just eight points behind Fairfax, with a score of 260. Coach Jenny Goff said she was proud of her girls and boys and believes they are eager to compete this weekend and want to take home the regional championship for the second year in a row.

“I definitely think were competitive for the regional title but Fairfax is really good,” she said. “We’re adding some new things into the routine but it really depends on how much we clean it up and how things go in his week’s practice.”

Herndon had point deductions during its routine but still defeated Stone Bridge for second place. Goff said it should be style versus technique when the Hornets face off against the Rebels on Saturday.

“Fairfax is ahead of us by eight and without our deductions they would be ahead by just three,” she said. “They have a lot more difficulty in their routines but we have a lot more flair.”

The top four in the region will advance to the state championship tournament. Herndon finished second in states last year and hopes to better that this month, but first the team must focus on the regional finals.

Cross-Country team struggles in Districts

Herndon High School’s cross-country team advanced a couple runners to the regional tournament individually, but failed to march forward as a team last week in the Concorde District race. Coach Peter Sherry said he was disappointed in his team’s performance, especially after last year’s success at the tournament.

The district finals were a low point for the team, Sherry said. “We were last in the boys and the girls, and it doesn’t get much worse than that.”

Bradley Heuer, Herndon’s No.2 runner, had been hampered with an injury which inflamed before the race and ended up 35th in the competition. Sherry said he felt, without the injury, Heuer should have finished 10th but unfortunately he will have to wait until next season to earn a top-10 finish.

The injury bug bit earlier in the season as well when Sherry lost his No.3/4 runner. The coach was not down on everyone and said he was impressed with Zach Ward’s performance.

“Zach Ward ran a good race and finished 29th and did a nice job,” Sherry said. “He steadily improved all year and I was happy with how he raced.”

Sherry will need to restock for the 2012 season due to the eventual loss of several seniors to graduation this coming June.

“My cupboard is kind of bare as they say. I have a couple freshmen who did all right so that’s promising,” he said. “I have my junior who was hurt and he should be pretty good. I’ll have four seniors on the team but we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

On a positive note, Troy Hunsaker, Belle Burgess (sixth overall) and Gabby Bustamate will advance to the Northern Regional race for Herndon. Sherry said Bustamate did a great job and Burgess should have a good shot at states.

Herndon runners will compete individually at Burke Lake in the regional race at 4 p.m. on Nov. 3.