Battlefield head coach Chris Lem tried to reduce expectations for his volleyball team just before the Bobcats took the court Monday night in Haymarket, mentioning that three of his tallest players had to miss the game due to vacations and injuries.

That would mean, according to Lem at the time, a concentration on defense with the need for some other players to step up.

Well so much for that game plan.

Senior team captain Allie Rash kicked off the season against Woodgrove with three aces during the opening drive and left the Wolverines unable to return three other serves, leading to a 6-0 introductory run and a 25-15, 25-16, 25-10 victory for Battlefield.

"We just found some holes in their defense," said Rash.

Designed to relieve overcrowding at Loudoun Valley HS, Woodgrove itself is a brand new high school in Purcellville that is just about to open doors for its inaugural year next month. Monday marked the volleyball program's first match.

According to head coach Faisal Hallaj, his players knew that Battlefield had experience on its side.

"And we expected to have a good match," said Hallaj, who later added that "good experience against good teams can make us better."

Serving, setting and outside attacks became Bobcats' best assets on the night offensively. During the opening game, Rash, fellow senior Stephanie Howe and junior Julie Leavitt all tallied at least one ace serve each. Senior Jasmine Mann showed why she's one of Rash's favorite targets to set up as she pounded spikes for Battlefield's 24th and 25th points.

"She likes (sets) high and tight to the net, so I give them to her there and she kills it almost every time," said Rash of Mann.

After Erin Shelton delivered a left-handed swat to put Woodgrove on the scoreboard first in the second game, Battlefield junior Taylor Anderson registered the most dominate serving rally throughout the Game 2 to the tune of a 10-0 run. The Wolverines' biggest issue during that time was stringing enough clean hits together so the serves could be returned inbound.

Shelton finally stopped the BHS march with another kill, allowing server Catherine Flowers catch the BHS defense off-guard with a fastball serve that frustrated the Bobcats' back line.

She led Woodgrove on a 5-0 run that narrowed the BHS lead to 10-7. An out call reversed momentum and allowed Howe to string together a 5-0 run for Battlefield.

"When we have consistency, we have a very good set of players on the court and it's a matter of finding that consistent play and making sure we deliver that," said Hallaj.

Woodgrove's real potential showed at the start of game three when Kaelin Bowman opened up with back-to-back aces. The Wolverines gained their biggest lead of the day at 5-3 before Howe reversed course behind the serve line and brought BHS back to a 7-6 lead.

"Serve-receive is something we've been working on at practice during the last week and a half. We still need to work on our middles," said Lem.

With the game tied at 7-7 and the teams battling competitively for the first time all night, Battlefield executed a textbook-style attack in which Katelyn Carnahan's dig-pass to Rash allowed the senior to set up Mann for a baseline smash that sparked the home team to kick the game into high gear.

On the serve, Mann combined aces with locations that made it tough for her spots to be returned as she guided Battlefield to an 11-0 run that effectively sealed the deal for the new-look Bobcats.

"Well, our setters did a great job in getting the balls to the outside, to Jasmine and to Bridget (Boyd)," said Lem, singling out Rash, Sarah Aloumouati and Arianna Gore. "We were able to mix it up with the three setters."

Howe added, "Today was trying to figure out what we're going to actually play, like, starting."

While the team does return several players, most are new to either starting or being front-and-center during the game. Sofia Gasperino took over from graduate Mikaela Whitaker, the Bobcats' all-time leading digger, at libero after the latter's four-year stint on the team.

Meanwhile, Mann and Carnahan led the power plays at the outside hitter position while the varsity rookie Leavitt routinely cleaned up shop from the serve line. She utilized a stutter-step approach to serving during which she would toss the ball 90 degrees in the air instead of at a slight leading angle before delivering a right-handed charge that led to no fewer than three aces and multiple unreturned volleys against Woodgrove.

Fellow fresh face Gore, whose defense at the net generated blocks for Battlefield, emphasized the need for the front row and middle to develop personal relationships in order to be successful on pass plays.

"You have to know the person and know what they want," she said.