by Lisa Hinton-Valdrighi
Lancaster came away from a couple of highly competitive matches last week with two tie-breaker wins to improve to 12-2 in varsity volleyball.
In between the five-set matches, Lancaster picked up an easy sweep over Colonial Beach to open Northern Neck District play.
Lancaster 3,
Middlesex 2
Lancaster celebrated set, match and a long-awaited victory over Middlesex on Monday, September 21, with a fifth-set tie-breaker that lifted the Lady Devils, 3-2, over the visiting Chargers.
The win marked the first time this group of junior and senior players have beaten the Chargers. Lancaster went 0-6 against MHS over the last two years and then lost 0-3 to Middlesex August 25 to open the 2026 season. Middlesex beat Lancaster in both the Region 1A final and the Class 1 semifinals last year.
The post match rivaled a state championship triumph with a court storm from the bench, chest bumps and high fives.
The win was made sweeter by Lancaster’s improbable comeback, making a reverse sweep of the Chargers after spotting them the first two sets, 22-25, 15-25, in what was shaping up to be a replay of the season opener. But the Lady Devils dug deep, fighting for a 25-15 win in the third set then tying it up at two each with a 25-20 win in the fourth and taking the match with a 15-11 win in the fifth-set tie-breaker.
Lancaster’s first lead of the match didn’t come until the third set.
Lexi VerMeer worked hard at the net for the Lady Devils with 27 of her team’s 44 kills and put over a kill for both the set and match points in the fifth set. Kelsie Cox and Kailyn Allen laid down six each.
VerMeer, Cox and Izzy Gill also had a block each with VerMeer leading behind the service line with seven aces. Addie George and Allen had four aces each.
George also led the defense with 39 of Lancaster’s 104 digs on the night. VerMeer had 17, Kelsey Bishoff 15 and Allen 12.
Rory Lally also had 15 digs and led the setters with 28 assists. Allen set for 13 assists.
Lancaster 3,
Northumberland 2
On Thursday, September 24, after claiming the first set, 25-18, Lancaster gave up two, 14-25, 22-25, to the visiting Lady Indians. They battled back to tie the match with a 25-20 win in the fourth set and went on to claim the match with a 15-10 tie-breaker.
Kynleigh Wilson came in to finish with nine kills and lead the Lady Devils on the front row after VerMeer went down with an injury in the first set.
Allen put over eight kills, Gill seven and Cox five for LHS with finished with 39 kills as a team.
Wilson also led behind the service line with four aces. Allen and Bishoff had three each.
Gill led the blockers with three and George anchored a tough back line for LHS with 30 digs. Bishoff had 19, Lally 16 and Allen 13. LHS tallied 107 digs as a team.
Lally had 29 assists.
E. Williams put over 14 kills and L. Hayden had 36 assists to lead the NHS stat sheet.
From left, senior setter Rory Lally reached 1,000 career assists; junior libero Addie George, 1,000 career digs; and junior hitter Lexi VerMeer, 1,000 career kills. Photo by Lisa Hinton-Valdrighi
Lancaster 3,
Colonial Beach 0
VerMeer led the LHS hitters with 10 of the team’s 25 kills in the 25-7, 25-16, 25-11 sweep of Colonial Beach on Tuesday, September 22.
Cox put over six kills and Allen three.
Lancaster also put over 22 unreturned serves with Bishoff leading behind the line with seven aces. George, Davenport and Suzi Geier had four aces each.
George had 17 digs and Lally 10 assists.
Lancaster will host Rappahannock tonight, October 1, in a Dig Pink fundraiser for breast cancer awareness. The junior varsity match will start at 5:30 p.m., varsity at 7 p.m. The event will include a bake sale and raffle drawings. Proceeds benefit the national Side-Out Foundation. Fans are urged to wear pink.
