Indians soccer stars earn All-Region honors

ROBBY FLETCHER

Sports Editor

Some of Powhatan’s top performers on the soccer pitch were awarded some due recognition after the season.

Three Indians soccer players earned 4B All-Region honors last week, with senior team captains Fischer Daniel and Connor Nickerson making it along with talented freshman Dylan Mapes.

Daniel was the only one of the three to make it on the first team after leading the team in

From B1 an on-field rapport.

The amount of interest shown during offseason conditioning was a reflection of the team’s rising popularity. Many of the girls on the team were multi-sport athletes, who developed chemistry through their time in fall and winter sports that carried over into one massive athletic melting pot that featured an array of talented student-athletes.

“We all play multiple sports so I think our first two years was the foundations building and once all of our friends joined we just really came together,” Payne said.

Fitzsimmons and Rehme joined the team their sophomore year, the same year that the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted all sports seasons across the country. It made chemistry-building tough with a shortened season and limited practice time together, but once the team got together last year, it all started to click with the group’s core players. From there, the wins started to follow.

“Last year was when we really turned up and we finally clicked and beat a lot of teams we never thought we’d beat,” Rehme said. “That just followed into this year, and we continued off that chemistry from last year to make it so much stronger.”

After having only two seniors last season, it made this year’s offseason an eager one for a roster that featured players with a winnow mentality and the confidence that they can get to where they want to be in the postseason.

While this team made it to the same spot last year’s season goals in his final year as an Indian. The soon-to-be Lynchburg Hornet has been a constant presence on postseason best-of lists, also making it on last year’s All-Metro, All-State and All-Region teams. He’ll likely be featured on the 2023 All-Metro and All-State lists as well after following up a breakout junior year with another excellent demonstration of his creative scoring abilities. Nickerson and Mapes made the second team this season, ended, it marked a road for the rising upperclassmen to follow as they become the new leaders that everyone turns to.

“I think we’re leaving it way better than we got left, I know the sophomore class is really, really strong,” Flippo said.

That sophomore class features players like Caroline Camp, Erica Krauss, Mackenzie Halfon and Chloe Holt, all of whom were instrumental to this year’s success. Midfielder Grace Hayden and defender Katherine Cerullo will be the team’s lone seniors, and many of this year’s graduating class have already tabbed Hayden as someone that’s more than qualified to carry the torch and lead the way.

Fitzsimmons says it’s hard to replicate the chemistry that this team displayed over the years, but it’s even harder to let it go, though there’s trust that the team will continue on with its winning tradition next year.

“I’m excited, but at the same time sad to leave the younger girls because we have such close bonds with them,” Fitzsimmons said. “Our team is so connected, we have such good chemistry so it’s hard to leave that behind.” marking the second time Nickerson has earned the honor. The midfielder took over increased responsibility in his final high school season, playing all over the field and working in tandem with the defense and the midfield to help the Indians to an 8-9 record this year. Nickerson recently signed his letter of intent to play soccer collegiately at Richard Bland College.

Flippo is the only senior with plans to continue playing the game at the college level after she committed to High Point University, but other players like Fitzsimmons and Rehme still intend to play at the club or intramural level down the line.

Regardless of where they end up, there will always be the memories of a program that they had a hand in helping become a powerhouse out of the district.

Robby Fletcher can be reached at rfletcher@powhatantoday.com.

Mapes emerged as an impactful newcomer for the team this year, earning his way on the field with blazing speed that blended well with the team’s pace up top, along with the skills to score and dish out accurate passes in the 18-yard box. After impressing enough in his first year of varsity play with a second team All-Region feature, Mapes is being looked at as a fast-rising skill player that will follow in the footsteps of Powhatan’s recent stars that have ended their time with the program as a go-to scoring option and team leader.

Last season, the Indians had seven players make an All-Region Team while head coach Willie Miles was also named coach of the year. That list featured Parker Sloan, Colton Hiatt, Carter Hubley, Tucker Thomas and Brayden Elzey.

With all spring sports seasons finished up, more player accolades will follow for Powhatan’s top athletes.

Robby Fletcher can be reached at rfletcher@powhatantoday.com.

From B1

It appeared Wallace had him figured out after dropping the first two games of the set. In the third game, Wallace took every point for his first win, then won a tight fourth game to tie up the set 2-2. It was the start of a fivegame streak where the Powhatan star came away victorious, but Dabhade all of a sudden cleaned up his serving errors, locked in and made things interesting with two straight wins of his own, making the 10th game an important one for Wallace to maintain the momentum he created with his five straight wins.

The game didn’t start too well, with a double fault on Wallace giving Dabhade an early lead, but he cleaned up his serve and got it to 40-15, where he finished the job and won the first set.

The first game of the second set also got to 40-15 and went in Wallace’s favor, and it appeared Dabhade may have used up all his energy to claw back into the first set.

The next game, Jamison served and won a very hard-fought opening point where he had to charge to the front of the net and save what looked like an easy point for his opponent, who was taken by surprise by Wallace’s quickness to the ball and ultimately overshot his stroke. All of sudden, just like late in the first set, Dabhade’s fire lit back up though. He not only took that second game, but the next four as well.

Wallace did everything he could to respond to the heat of Dabhade’s fiery shots, but the Lightridge senior looked in complete control, picking his spots on the court to force Wallace to sprint back and forth just to keep the game alive. Wallace had seen and heard from Pfab about what kind of player Dabhade was, but no preparation could prepare him for the level his opponent was playing at with a state championship appearance on the line.

“Jacob told me some stuff, but most of it I had to figure out myself,” he said. “The first set, he was missing everything so I was just trying to keep the ball deep and force some errors, but in the second set and the tiebreaker he was just hitting winners left and right.”

Wallace kept the set alive with wins in the sixth and seventh games, winning the seventh game with a comeback from 30-0 and earning the winning point on a tough rally that ended with him placing a shot perfectly into the right corner, but Dabhade calmly settled in and won the eighth game to set up the tiebreaker.

The momentum of the second set proved vital for Dabhade, who didn’t miss a beat and took the first two points. A blistering serve from Wallace made it 2-1 soon after, but like the second set, Dabhade began picking the spot he wanted Wallace to chase the ball to, and that control led to five straight points for a 7-1 lead.

With his season on life support, Wallace gave all he had left and won the next two points, but with a match point at 9-4, Dabhade finished the job and moved on to the final round of the tournament.

Wallace was quick to bounce back up from the loss, giving credit to his opponent’s excellence while acknowledging his own improvement from the beginning of the season compared to now.

“I feel like I improved a lot from the beginning of the season,” Wallace said.

Wallace says there’ll be a small window for rest with his second season in the books, but the grind to prepare for Year 3 will pickup soon as he looks ahead to another season where he shoots for a state title.

Robby Fletcher can be reached at rfletcher@powhatantoday.com.

Notice Of Public Hearings

Powhatancounty Board Of Supervisors

Notice is hereby given that the Powhatan County Boardof Supervisors will conduct public hearings on Monday,June 26, 2023 at 6:30 PM in the Powhatan County Village Building Auditorium (3910 Old Buckingham Road) regarding the following matters.

O-2023-06: The County of Powhatan requests ratification of the emergency Ordinance extending the due date for first half taxes for 2023 from June 5, 2023, to June 20, 2023, with no interest or penalty; and that penalties shall be calculated retroactive to the due date of June 5, 2023, and should be effective for payments made after June 20, 2023; interest shall be calculated on payments made after June 30, 2023, should payment of the taxes not occur by the extended due date.

O-2023-07 (Case #23-05-REZ): Jesse (District #2: Powhatan Station/Graceland) requests arezoning of the parcel located at TM #41A-1-B-6 from Residential Utility (R-U) to Commerce Center (CC). The parcel is located approximately 0.83 miles west of the intersection between Anderson Highway (Rt. 60) and Stavemill Road. If approved the applicant intends to use the existing structureonthe property as an office building. The 2021 Comprehensive Plan designates the subject properties as Gateway Business on the Countywide Land Use Map.

Members of the public arewelcome to attend in-person or participate remotely by joining awebinar at: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83998792911 or by dialing in by phone at 1-929-205-6099 OR 1-312-626-6799; then typing in the webinar ID 839 9879 2911. During the public comment period, participants may raise their hand using the zoom controls on the computer screen, or (if dialing in) by pressing *9 on aphone.

Public comments may also be submitted to administration@powhatanva.gov or by leaving avoicemail at (804) 598-5612. Any comments received prior to 5:00 PM of the date of the public hearing will be recorded in the meeting minutes.

All interested persons areinvited to participate in the public hearings and to present their views and/or to submit written comments. Persons requiring special assistance to view or participate in the hearing should contact the Powhatan County Administrator’s Office at (804) 598-5612 at least three days prior to the meeting. Full text and documents related to this proposal can be reviewed by contacting the County Administrator’sOffice at administration@powhatanva.gov or (804) 598-5612.