The George Mason High School varsity volleyball team might have been knocked out of the Bull Run District tournament in the semi-finals last Thursday, but the team is still going strong in the Region B tournament after a win last Tuesday in the quarter finals.

Randolph Henry High School took the Mason team to five games before the Mustangs could secure a victory, 3-2, in what Coach Erik Healey called “a hard-fought, exciting match.”

While the Mustang offense – led by seniors Charlotte Lathrop and Rachel Bell with nine kills each – kept the team scoring, Healey says the defense was crucial to the win. Led by senior libero Nicole Philbin with 17, the team had both a team- and game-high 51 digs.

The match-up came to a close with a nail-biter fifth game. With the teams tied up at 13, junior setter Maddie Johnson served two straight points, and won the final point with an ace to pull out a victory. Last week, Johnson was named a First Team All District player.

“She has an incredible serve as evidenced by being second in the district in aces in a season,” Healey said. ‘I believe the biggest testament to Maddie getting this award goes to the fact that other teams develop entire game strategies around her as a player.”

The announcement came after the team lost to Madison County High School 3-0 in its district semi-final game.

After losing in 21-25 and 12-25 games, the team was up nine points late in its third game, but couldn’t overcome Madison. They were eliminated from the district tournament with a 23-25 final game. The Madison team went on to win the Bull Run District title.

Goochland High School will host the Mustangs Thursday at 7 p.m. in the regional semi-final game. Should the Mustangs win, they would play for the regional title Saturday.