By Tim Tassa -- Daily Staff Writer

BERRYVILLE — The Rams like to keep their timeouts few and far between — an effort to emphasize the team's need to attack and raise its intensity level.

"We usually just giggle and have fun in timeouts," senior Bethany Doman said after Strasburg's 3-0 (25-15, 25-10, 25-21) victory over Clarke County on Tuesday. "No pressure."

With her squad trailing the Eagles by a point, resulting in a timeout, Doman's urgency at the service line masked the Rams' easy-going approach.

Trailing 14-13, Doman managed five aces over an 8-0 run that sandwiched a block by Stephanie Conde and kill by Jaclyn Ayers.

Her cool demeanor helped the Rams to a 25-15 Game 1 victory and, consequently, provoked more smiles and giggles as Strasburg improved to 8-2, 1-0.

"I start out with easy serves; [head coach Suzanne Mathias] tells us to play safe," said Doman, who finished with six aces and four kills. "And then the more you get them in the more aggressive they become."

Mathias emphasized the team's strong service game as the catalyst for the contest's abrupt turnaround. Meghan Gum registered four aces, Jaclyn Ayers and Ally Kauffman each had two and Lauran Agnew added one against Clarke County, which struggled to position itself for consistent returns.

Three of the Rams' first seven points in Game 2 were by way of aces, helping Strasburg to an 11-3 lead.

Clarke County head coach Mary Brune said the Rams were serving low, and that her team wasn't quick to adjust, noting the Eagles' inability to move their feet. Agnew said the Rams had prepared for the Eagles to hustle and try to out-scrap them. However, Clarke's early hustle seemed to subside.

"We were passing well, moving our feet and attacking. And then we stopped passing well, moving our feet and attacking," Brune said. "It looked like we had mud boots on."

To finish the second game, the Eagles accounted for a combined seven attack and service errors. Over a 14-4 run to conclude the game 25-10, the Rams boasted two Jenna Smoot blocks, three Kauffman aces, and two kills by Doman.

Smoot finished the match with six kills, flanking Ayers (12 assists, four kills) and Agnew (10 assists, eight kills) among the team's statistical leaders. Conde had two kills and three blocks.

"It's been big a problem for us, whether it's the first game or the second game at some point in the match we always seem to have down time, and we're trying to get away from that," Smoot said.

"We weren't really talking, we just needed to pick it up a lot," Agnew said. "After the timeout I think we came out and showed them what we've got."

The Rams rolled to 7-2 and 13-5 leads in Game 3, capitalizing on four kills by Smoot. After Strasburg increased its lead to 24-17 after an ace by Ayers, the Eagles reeled off four consecutive points to threaten a fourth game, but ultimately fell 25-21.

Monica Mongold led Clarke County with five assists and a kill, while Misty Munson and Amy Hagerdon added three kills each.

"What we've been preaching all year is to attack, attack, attack, so that's what I was mainly saying to them in the timeout," Mathias said. "I thought that we stayed focused and kept our intensity up the best that we could. We played hard the whole time until the last play of the last game and I stress that all the time, too."

*Contact Tim Tassa at ttassa@nvdaily.com