Every sports team at Brentsville District High School is starting the 2011-12 season in a bit of a hole when it comes to recruiting top-notch talent.

While the opening of nearby Patriot High School will help Brentsville students better navigate what were once chronicle congested hallways, the transfer of hundreds of students also means the pool to select athletes is smaller than last year.

That's where upper-classmen at Brentsville are going to need to become playmakers in the own right as leadership skills are going to be in high demand.

Senior Tori Holler is one player for the varsity volleyball team. The orange-clad libero in the No. 99 jersey could be seen constantly hitting the floor last Wednesday at home against Stonewall Jackson during the Raiders' 3-1 (25-8, 21-25, 25-21, 25-21) win over Brentsville.

"She talks to us. She tells us it's okay if we make mistakes," said sophomore outside hitter Courtney Thornburg.

Holler explained that, following the Stonewall loss, she thought the team could afford to talk more, start pinching the center of the court better on attacks and improving serving.

Those identified by Holler as tasked with providing a strong front line for Brentsville are all sophomores: Thornburg, Colleen Lamoureaux and Ashley Polk.

The senior mentioned that Lamoureaux has improved "immensely," as she's now hitting the ball down hard and "snaps her hand" on attacks. Polk's charged with blocking at the center of the net given that she's one of the, if not the tallest, players on the team.

Thonburg said Lamoureaux "works very well on her toes", which also came to show in her serving game. She recorded aces, or at least put Stonewall in a position unable to return her serves, at least twice.

Brentsville ran into the Raiders' offensive early in the first game though as Lauren Oxley recorded three consecutive aces as part of a 5-1 run to open the match.

Game 2 ended up much closer as Brentsville never led by more than four but never trailed by more than one.

Tied at 16, Brentsville finally broke away and established a lead they would not give up after an unforced error on Stonewall led to an ace serve Thornburg. Up 18-17, the Tigers took advantage of several more Stonewall errors for the rest of their points.

Stonewall head coach Jim Sample said his team's mistakes counted for the main difference between SJ's performance in the first two games. He also noted Brentsville came out of the second game "passing well," unlike the first game.

"I felt that they out-hustled us on defense," said Sample, a chorus he would later repeat to Brentsville players exiting the arena.

However, he pointed out that when his own players began talking "a lot" in the third and fourth games that paid dividends on the floor.

Stonewall took much more command in the third game after coming back from a 5-4 deficit to take a 14-7 lead. That's when a scary moment quieted the court as Oxley hit the ground after a violent collision with a teammate in pursuit of a ball at the net.

Her ankle sprain sidelined her for the rest of the game that she had been dominating to that point after repeatedly executing assists from junior setter Ingrid Jimenez.

"Lauren's the go-to for this year," said Sample.

Brentsville attempted to forge a comeback in the fourth game, closing to within two points after trailing by as much as six.

Polk registered a two-handed block at the net to keep the Tigers in the game, down only 21-19. Thornburg closed the gap again to two points four plays later after a block of her own, but a successful SJ return volley and an ace serve by Melissa Thai that clipped the top of the net and fell in on the Brentsville side sealed the deal for the Raiders.

"If we do better serves, I think we can take them easily," said Thornburg.

Sample said he would like to take a page out of Brentsville's game and apply it to his own team's performance.

"I think, bottom line, I want us to hustle on defense the way they did," he said.