Tie-dyed and tiny, little ribbons wrapped around the pony tails of the Stonewall Jackson volleyball team members on Monday night in Manassas.

It seemed more like a display of team unity than anything, though the blue streaks certainly had nothing to do with the Raiders' burgundy and gold school colors.

At the end of each tassel though read little black "A.L.B." letters and "#14" prints. This had significance beyond mere solidarity amongst the ultimately victorious SJ team.

It wasn't for them. It was for visiting Brentsville District, who lost something more than a 3-2 game to the Raiders this year.

On January 11, 16-year-old Alyssa Leighann Beach of Nokesville died after her car hit a patch of ice on Vint Hill Road near Schaeffer Lane and slid into a ditch and tree. A junior at BDHS at the time of the crash, she led the Tigers last season in digs and good serve receives, honing her skills in the off-season by playing local club ball.

That meant girls on both sides of the court knew her since middle school.

When Brentsville came to town, the Raiders set out to win as always. How they did it -- with a touch of class that reflected the "Always on my mind, forever in my heart" message on the back of a tie-dyed orange shirt in the Brentsville section of the stands -- is what made the game special beyond points, sets and records.

"They wore ribbons tonight because this is our second time playing them and they wore tie-dye to school because Alyssa was a really bright person and I really adore them for doing that," said veteran senior Sammi Gough. Her face and eyes reddened as she repressed tears of gratitude.

"So, we're all pretty close with the Stonewall girls since we're kind of close, like, near each other. So it's really good that they can support us and our loss too," Gough added.

Stonewall junior middle blocker Skye Square explained that Beach, "was a part of our team too," referring to the girls that played for the same club.

Both she and sophomore Lauren Oxley expressed that a loss for Brentsville was a loss for Stonewall.

While players for both teams entered the game united in spirit, they battled hard on the court. Stonewall took an early 2-0 (25-15, 25-19) edge before Brentsville finally found a spark in the third set that led to a 25-15 Tiger win.

After being tied 8-8, the Tigers took advantage of several Stonewall miscues during a 9-1 run during which server Megan Dunn recorded three aces.

Miscommunication in the Raiders' back row during a Gough serve set up another ace. Such a problem plagued Stonewall in the third and fourth sets, leading to several Brentsville points.

"When no one's talking, you can definitely tell," said Oxley.

Momentum from the win did not seem to roll over into the fourth set as the teams stayed within a point of each other until an ace by Oxley gave SJ a 6-4 advantage, bumped up to 7-4 after Oxley pounded back a Brentsville return.

Something finally clicked for Brentsville after a Tiger time out when the team trailed 10-7. The Tigers patched together a 14-2 run and sealed the deal when Kaitlyn Riordan returned a Raider volley past two colliding players to capture a 25-14 win.

"I think we had a lot more intensity. I think when it gets down to it, the closer it gets, the more that we need to win, our team really thrives on that a lot," said Gough.

Finally, the Stonewall team from the first two games came back in the fifth game when sophomore Megan Schrecongost and Square put up major offensive and defensive efforts.

Even after four straight Brentsville digs off of outside hitter Schrecongost, the Raiders kept with it and managed to finally overwhelm the Tigers' front row with a game-ending spike.

"We need to learn to pick each other up," said Oxley. "We needed the big blocks. Skye helped us out a lot there. We just need to get the intensity back up. Unfortunately, it takes us a while to get it back up, but once we do it, we're usually pretty good."

According to Gough, "Skye's a really big middle. She's always been really good. So, when we don't have a good pass, she'll just take it right over top of (us)."

She added, "We try to block her as much as we can with our middles and we have some pretty good passers."